


悪魔 (The Devil)

by funkylilwriter



Category: ASTRO (Band), B.A.P, BLACKPINK (Band), Block B, GOT7, VIXX, Winner (Band), iKON (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, Drama, Multi, Rap Battles, Underground Rap AU, Underground Rapper Bang Yongguk, Underground Rapper Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Underground Rapper Kim Namjoon | RM, Underground Rapper Min Yoongi | Suga, Underground Rapper Mino, and everyone is gay, and instead of punching each other they rap battle, and the younger ones are newbies, but for rappers, dancers are on thin fucking ice, idk how im gonna write that, ill wing it, it's like fight club, let's just say underground rapper everyone, no singers allowed, they have a club where they hang out, this is an all rappers party, while the older ones are Cool and Untouchable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-07-02 14:19:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15798294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkylilwriter/pseuds/funkylilwriter
Summary: Junhong and Minhyuk are just your average dance majors, stressed students whose college lives are nothing like in the movies: partying every day until dawn, sleeping with a different person every night, getting drunk and high every waking hour.Their lives are tame and calm, they are responsible and collected.Until their three devilish friends, Lisa, Jennie and Bobby, show them a club called Akuma where everyone's favourite underground rappers like to hang out.When Junhong and Minhyuk first lay their eyes on their respective crushes, their lives get turned upside down.





	1. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy do I have plans for this AU.

“Should I call Lisa? It’s been one hell of a week,” Minhyuk said, stretching on the bed like a cat.

“Agreed. What’s the franchise we haven’t marathoned yet? Lord of the Rings?” Junhong asked, trying to remember.

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out,” Minhyuk said and sat up, rubbing his eyes. “You call Bobby, let him know we’re hanging out.”

Junhong nodded and grabbed his phone.

 

So far his college experience was quite ordinary.

The dorm was small and hardly bearable. Junhong spent most of his time either at a Starbucks or in a secluded corner of the library.

No crazy parties or sex every other night. Perhaps he was even hoping to avoid that. He truly needed to focus on his studies.

The good news is that his roommate Minhyuk was the roommate from dreams. He was cooperative and tidy and actually fun to be around.

But, from time to time it was good to do something other than just Netflix and snacks with Minhyuk, his friend, her girlfriend and their friend. Of course Junhong had no idea what else he would do, nor did he have the people to do it with.

Lisa, Jennie and Bobby were pretty much the only people Junhong hung out with who weren’t his roommate.

 

Minhyuk met Lisa in the practice room. They made up a choreography together just for fun and practice, but later they actually got paired up for an assignment.

One day Minhyuk invited her to a Harry Potter marathon, when she asked if she can bring her girlfriend along. Halfway into The Chamber of Secrets, Jennie’s phone buzzed. It was her best friend who wanted to know if she was doing anything fun. Bobby ended up tagging along – he’d brought snacks to make up for suddenly appearing.

Ever since then they’ve been a squad for lazy hang outs after stressful days.

It was never anything special or crazy, no parties or such. They planned to go to this concert in October, but so far it had only been movie or game nights.

 

Tonight it was a bit different. It was the first time him and Minhyuk got ditched.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Junhong asked in disbelief.

The way they hung out every other week, and sometimes in pairs or smaller groups depending on who was available, Junhong and Minhyuk easily forgot that the three had been close friends long before they met them. They probably had their own traditions and activities that didn’t include Junhong and Minhyuk. Which was fine, just a bit surprising at the moment.

 _“Something came up—Believe me I’m not happy about it either,”_ Bobby said grimly.

 _“He’s_ scared _!”_ Jennie yelled from somewhere in the back.

_“I’m not—shut up!!”_

Junhong wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know, but he asked anyway, “What are you even doing? It sounds dangerous. Then again you’re scared of everything...”

 _“Am not! We’re just going to Akuma,”_ Bobby blurted out.

Junhong wasn’t sure if he’d heard that right. The Devil? “You joined a cult? Wait, wait, you’ve been in a cult all along!”

 _“Akuma is the name of a club you silly!”_ Bobby explained.

Junhong could hear laughter in the background. “Oh. You go there often?”

_“No. Well, yeah, since a few months ago—“_

_“That’s because his boyfriend goes there!”_ Jennie yelled again.

 _“He is not my boyfriend!”_ Bobby defended himself in a suspiciously flustered tone. _“Yet,”_ he mumbled.

This made Junhong chuckle. “You’re going to a club to see some boy?”

There was commotion. Junhong wasn’t sure if he should hang up. While it all unwound, Minhyuk’s call seemed to have ended. He went over to Junhong’s bed and sat beside him.

“Lisa said they were going to this place called Akuma? She said we can’t come along though,” Minhyuk said.

“Lisa is better at explaining things than Bobby is,” Junhong noted. Soon there was a voice on the other line again.

Junhong put it on speaker. _“Oooh, he is not just some boy. You won’t believe it, Bobby has a crush on the most out of his league guy ever!”_ It was Jennie.

“Who!?” Minhyuk asked eagerly.

Junhong had to admit, he was curious as well.

_“Mino!”_

Everyone burst out laughing. Everyone except for Bobby, who started fighting to get his phone back.

 _“That’s enough, shush, come on!”_ Once he got his phone back, Bobby sighed.

“What kind of a club is it where you get to see Mino?” Minhyuk asked, still giggling. But truthfully, he was impressed.

 _“It’s a...”_ Bobby hesitated. _“You know what, it’s a long story. Why don’t you come over and we’ll explain everything.”_

 _“Hold on, Bobby you know the rule,”_ Lisa said in a cautious tone.

 _“You’re right, you’re right,”_ Bobby said. The hesitation wasn’t gone from his voice. _“Okay guys, we’re taking our friendship to the next level. I need to ask you an important question.”_

Both Minhyuk and Junhong had stopped laughing. They were holding their breaths in anticipation, looking at Junhong’s phone as if it held the secrets of the entire universe.

_“Can you rap?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An opening chapter. Look forward to the actual plot~


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The neon sign was looming over them; 悪魔, AKUMA, all in red.

“I don’t understand,” Junhong said, holding onto the front seat in Bobby’s car.

“Of course you don’t, Bobby isn’t thinking straight,” Lisa said with a sigh.

“He’s thinking _Mino_ ,” Jennie snickered.

Bobby tried to hit her, but he had to keep at least one hand on the wheel and Jennie was sitting by the window so he ended up failing.

“Hey, responsible driving!” Minhyuk exclaimed.

“I gave the best possible explanation!” Bobby defended himself.

“I didn’t understand and I’m the smart one,” Minhyuk noted. That bastard was in the front seat with his feet up on the dashboard. He had all the space in the world.

Meanwhile Junhong who actually needed more space than his tiny ass was in the backseat with the girlfriends.

“Listen,” Lisa said. “I’ll explain better.” She locked her phone, slid it into her pocket and sat up, resting her elbows on her knees. “Akuma is a night club of sorts. Not your typical Saturday night place, but we’ll get there. When we said it’s a ‘members only’ thing, this is what we meant: there’s one rule for getting in there, and it’s pretty easy to follow through... If you can rap.”

“And the rule is?” Junhong questioned.

“If it’s your first night there, you have to perform,” Lisa said.

“You could have just said so,” Minhyuk told Bobby.

“I _did_ say so!” He insisted.

“Not plainly enough, apparently. You included way too much of tragic backstory,” Jennie accused.

“Shut up,” Bobby grumbled.

“So, you’re willing to take us with you, but we’ll have to rap for a bunch of strangers,” Minhyuk summed up.

“Oh, not only just a bunch of strangers,” Jennie said, sitting up. “There are some familiar faces there. Other than Mino there’s Jackson, Lay, P.O, Kyung, Penomeco, Zico—“

“Zico!?” Junhong asked, eyes wide. “You’ve been going to a club where all these people—You breathed the same air!?”

Jennie and Lisa chuckled.

“Someone else is whipped,” Jennie hummed. “But yes. My favourite are J-Hope and JinJin. They were newcomers like... A year ago? They’re probably the first dancers that rolled around and everyone loves them.”

“Well not everyone,” Lisa corrected.

“Oh yeah, Suga hates their guts,” Bobby said to which Minhyuk muttered, “Suga,” in an impressed and maybe a little intimidated tone.

“Remember that time they nearly fought? It was crazy... Ravi and RM had to separate them—“

“Ravi and RM,” Junhong whined.

“Quit drooling or you’ll never make it there. What are you gonna do when they’re two meters from you?” Jennie asked, smiling in amusement.

“I’ll probably die,” Minhyuk mumbled.

“It’ll be fine. I doubt we’ll get that close,” Junhong assured. “It’s not a _small_ club, is it?”

“Duh!” Lisa exclaimed.

“In that case we’re okay. It’s just another club honestly... Even though cool people come there.”

Minhyuk didn’t respond. He just stared out the window.

 

The neon sign was looming over them; 悪魔, AKUMA, all in red. The bouncer was a large tattoo-covered guy who let people in in small groups.

Junhong was impressed, but at that point he could _feel_ Minhyuk’s trembling.

Junhong nudged him lightly. “You okay?”

“I don’t think I can do this,” Minhyuk whispered.

They were already in the line.

Jennie wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry, it’s not such a big deal. It’s all good fun. They only have that rule so they can… Filter out the visitors, y’know.”

Minhyuk stayed quiet, utterly abusing the intentional hole in his shirt with his fidgeting.

“There’s only one person who’s allowed inside and isn’t a rapper,” she continued, maybe hoping that her talking would help put Minhyuk at ease.

“Two, if you count Ravi’s boyfriend Taekwoon. He doesn’t come here very often, but he’s still allowed inside,” Bobby noted.

“Ravi has a boyfriend?” Junhong muttered. He sighed. “Well, who’s the other?”

“Lee Taeil,” Lisa said.

“Why are they allowed in if they’re not rappers?” Junhong asked.

Bobby raised an eyebrow. “Have you _seen_ Ravi?”

Junhong nodded. “Good point. What about… What’s-his-face?”

“They let Taeil in because…” Bobby glanced at the front of the line. “Because he looks like that.” He pointed to a group of five that was just at the front.

Junhong followed his gaze. He expected a monster, but the person he saw was actually… Quite tame. And cute. He was pretty short; Junhong could only see him because of his own height. He wore round glasses and a fluffy black sweater that didn’t manage to hide all of his tattoos. But were it not for the large bat on his neck, he would actually look friendly. Still, Junhong understood why people would be intimidated.

Junhong needed a double take, but he noticed that this Taeil dude was accompanied by none other than Zico and Penomeco. With them were also P.O and Kyung.

“Oh yeah, and also his boyfriends,” Bobby added.

“His boyfriends!?” Junhong gaped. That was when he noticed Taeil had his arm around Zico’s waist and was holding hands with Penomeco.

Minhyuk sighed. “Seems to me they’re pretty strict about who goes in. I’m not the type for public humiliation. I’m going home,” he said, wiggled out of Jennie’s embrace and left the line.

Junhong frowned and went after him. “Hyukkie, wait!” He took the younger by the wrist to stop him.

“I wanna go home. I’ll just embarrass myself,” he said, trying to free his hand.

“No you won’t, you’re amazing,” Junhong said. “You’ve got stage fright, it’s something to get over. And you know how one gets over stage fright—“

“No.”

“—by performing.”

“ _No!_ ”

Junhong winced and let go of him. “Fine. I can’t force you, but… I think you’re great. I think it would be fun and it could help your confidence.”

“No, it won’t! It won’t if I freeze up with all of those people watching me. Did you even hear Jennie listing the names? I can’t!” Minhyuk crossed his arms, shoulders tense. He was staring at the ground and blinking aggressively.

“So what? What do their opinions mean to you, Min? They can’t affect your life much. Remember, your life is _outside_ this place.”

“They can laugh at me,” Minhyuk mumbled.

“And? That’s a few assholes’ chuckles. You won’t hear them over everyone else cheering.”

Minhyuk chewed on his lip, trying to fight off the hesitation. He looked up and was met with Junhong’s encouraging smile.

He sighed and glanced up at the neon sign. “Fine. Let’s do this.”

 

Minhyuk’s trembling didn’t settle as they entered, understandably so.

The interior wasn’t as expected, though. The lights were blue, making it look like the inside of an iceberg rather than hell. The decorations, however, were red, so it balanced out.

There was a stage on the far end, a small one that clearly wasn’t meant for larger performances. The bar was on the left, there were booths and platforms with individual tables that were all occupied. A staircase led to an elevated platform that overlooked the whole club, sort of like a balcony.

The stage was currently occupied. Two guys, a blonde and a brunette, spitting fire and making everyone cheer. They made a very good team, perhaps they were friends.

Jennie and Lisa lead the way. Bobby now looked as nervous as Minhyuk.

“You know what, maybe we should give the newbies the spotlight for tonight. There’s always tomorrow,” Bobby yelled over the music.

“You can’t chicken out every time!” Lisa replied, frowning.

“I don’t think he’s even here,” Bobby trailed off, glancing up at the booths. Mino was nowhere to be seen. “There’s no point if he’s not here!”

Lisa was still frowning, but she didn’t argue.            It was true, Bobby was trying to impress his crush, if he wasn’t there to watch there was no point in putting himself through the stress.

Lisa approached a girl who was standing by the stage. She told her something and then the girl waved Junhong and Minhyuk over.

“Hi! I’m Amber and—“ She cut herself off as the two guys currently onstage finished their performance. “Shit—You’re up next,” she told Junhong and Minhyuk quickly and climbed onstage.

“Give it up for the killer duo – Jooheon and I.M!” Amber yelled into her mic.

As they got down and started making out, Junhong figured that his guess about them being _friends_ was more than correct.

“Aaand, now we’ve got some newcomers. Give them a boost!”

It was their cue. Junhong glanced at Minhyuk to check up on him. He was drawing deep breaths, fists clenched. He was nervous, but he was ready.

Junhong grabbed his hand, squeezing tightly.

When they first stepped on the stage, they were blinded by the lights. They couldn’t even see the crowd.

And Minhyuk was still frozen, but Junhong wasn’t. He got a rush of adrenaline, a wave of inspiration.

He wanted more than anything to embrace Minhyuk and tell him everything would be okay, but it wasn’t the time or place for such reassurance. He knew he needed to help him another way.

Junhong’s voice helped snap Minhyuk out of his fear.

It was odd. When you live with someone, you connect on a deeper level. You learn the person’s needs, their habits, likes and dislikes. You know things about one another that no one else has the chance to find out.

But it doesn’t mean you’re friends.

So far for Minhyuk and Junhong it was more or less like that. Sure, Junhong knew that Minhyuk called his family at least once a week. And Minhyuk knew that Junhong couldn’t sleep without his plushies, but they weren’t really friends.

Not until that night on the small stage in the club called Akuma.

As they finished each other’s verses, created rhymes that made the crowd go wild, Junhong felt like they truly became friends.

 

The applause was deafening.

Amber joined them onstage and stood between the two of them. “Woah, newbies killed it!”

It took a while for the spectators to settle. It gave Junhong and Minhyuk a second to catch their breaths. Junhong leaned in and gave Minhyuk a smile. He returned it with a little shrug.

“Who are we cheering for, boys?” Amber asked and looked to Junhong.

It took him a second to realize that she was asking for their names. He didn’t have much time. He needed to figure out a badass underground rapper stage name before the silence got too awkward.

But for some stupid reason he couldn’t get the word _jello_ out of his head.

“Um—Zelo,” he blurted out.

Amber grinned and looked at Minhyuk. He was much more prepared.

“Rocky!”

“Zelo and Rocky, everyone!”

They got another round of applause, bowing for the crowd.

They got pulled in a group hug when they got down.

“That was amazing!” Jennie screamed.

“You killed it!” Bobby was smiling proudly.

“You’re the best newcomers in history!” Lisa praised.

Junhong and Minhyuk exchanged looks. They embraced each other and burst out laughing.

“How did that feel?” Junhong asked.

“Amazing,” Minhyuk admitted.

Junhong hugged him again. When he pulled away, he ran a hand through his hair and glanced in no direction in particular.

His gaze fell on a bored looking dude in the corner of the room. He was sitting in one of the circular booths, leaned back with his arm rested on the back of the couch. He sat with his legs spread, looking straight at Junhong under the brow. His gaze was unimpressed and judgmental.

His hair was a mess of dark curls. He was wearing a gray sleeveless shirt. Edges of a tattoo poked out from under it, there were letters on his chest. Another tattoo was on his arm but it was all that was visible the way he was dressed.

Junhong felt mortified. All of his happiness and exhilaration from a second ago were gone. He was terrified, intrigued and maybe a little aroused, the thing is that he wasn’t sure _why_.

“Oh no,” Junhong heard Bobby say. “No, no, no, no, no. Quit staring and keep walking, come on.”

Junhong found it hard to look away. He didn’t avert his gaze until Bobby smacked him up the head.

“What did I _just_ say!?”

He was now dragging Junhong towards the bar, the rest of their little group was following.

“I know Bobby can get paranoid and flustered over nothing, but he has a point this time,” Lisa said hesitantly.

Leaning against the bar, Junhong stole another glance at the booth. He couldn’t see the guy clearly anymore.

“Who’s that?” He questioned.

“That is someone you don’t want to piss off,” Bobby said and thudded a glass into Junhong’s hands.

Junhong had no idea what kind of a drink it was but he trusted Bobby.

“You’ve heard of Bang Yongguk, you must have,” Jennie said.

“Oh, right! I’ve never seen his face, only listened to his music.” Shivers ran down Junhong’s spine and he nearly dropped his glass. “ _That’s_ Bang Yongguk?”

“Yup. And seriously, stop staring!” Bobby hissed. “His friends are kinda protective of him.”

His friends. Junhong shifted his gaze and lay eyes on a redhead, covered in tattoos with too many chains around his neck. He recognized him immediately; Ravi. Two more people were seated in the booth; one was a tall guy in a white sweater with purple hair and very prominent dimples. The other was a small grumpy man with mint colored hair. RM and Suga.

Junhong’s heart was racing, but not because of the three other rappers – mostly because of that one glance Bang Yongguk had given him.


	3. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With his friend’s head laid on his chest, Junhong couldn’t help but wonder; what kind of a home had Bang Yongguk gone back to? Had anyone waited for him, worried and frantic about his absence?
> 
> Was he being held?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long ass chapter to compensate for the slow updates. School started so it'll all be slow :((

Maybe if Bobby and Lisa hadn’t scared him so much, Junhong would have been able to stop thinking about Bang Yongguk.

This way he kept trying to steal glances without being noticed, but either way Yongguk wasn’t looking at him anymore.

It was a few more newcomers after Junhong and Minhyuk, but Junhong tuned them all out. He didn’t even talk to the others that much, he was trapped in his own world; that is until Jennie yelled,

“It’s them!”

Junhong was at least thankful to have something to keep his attention away from the circular booth, even though he had no idea who “them” were.

Jennie took Lisa’s hand and yelled, “We’re gonna get closer!” The two of them did their best to stay together as they pushed through the crowd.

He turned towards the stage to take a look at who Jennie was beaming at.

The two currently on stage were wearing matching stripped sweaters which Junhong found an interesting choice of wardrobe for such a place. Not that he was judging – he loved it.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out, but the two were the dancers Jennie had mentioned in the car – J-Hope and JinJin. Their energy was impressive, the dancing didn’t cancel out the rapping and vice versa; they did it all tirelessly. But the most impressive thing about their performance was how they showed different styles of rapping during a single song. One moment it was light and upbeat, the next it was heavy and powerful, breathtaking even.

But Junhong didn’t seem nearly as mesmerized as Minhyuk was. He was twisting his glass in his hand, eyes fixed on the blue haired one.

Bobby nudged him out of his daze. “JinJin, huh?” He asked, smirking over his glass.

Minhyuk returned the smile, gaze trailing back to the stage. “He’s handsome,” was all he said.

Bobby grinned proudly.

Junhong didn’t quite understand the hypocrisy. Everyone started panicking when he just so much as _glanced_ at Bang Yongguk. Now that Minhyuk is showing interest for JinJin, it’s a good thing?

Perhaps they weren’t the same level of popularity or something.

Whatever. Junhong didn’t care. This wasn’t his world anyway. He was there to have fun for the night and never come back.

Minhyuk suddenly grabbed Junhong’s arm, squeezing tightly. “Am I going crazy?” He asked.

Junhong’s eyes darted to Minhyuk than back to the stage. “What are you talking about?”

“I think…” Minhyuk trailed off. He focused on JinJin, not even blinking. “It’s like he keeps looking at me.”

Junhong wasn’t sure whether it was jealousy that spoke from him or genuine wish to settle his friend’s nerves. “He might not be. You know how somehow you just think that a performer is looking at you when really they’re looking over the audience—“

JinJin dropped to his knees and slid a few millimetres to the edge of the stage. He thrust his hips once, twice, three times, slowly, as if he wanted every second of the movement to be captured by the spectators.

The interesting thing about this, however, was the way he fixed his gaze on something… someone by the bar. That space was a bit elevated, overlooking the pit right by the stage.

“Yes, he is definitely looking at you,” Junhong dared say once JinJin was back on his feet and finishing the last verse.

Minhyuk’s hand, still gripping Junhong’s arm, was now shaking.

 

The good thing was that after the night out Junhong and Minhyuk were able to walk home with no swaying or throwing up. Alright, there was some swaying, but no throwing up. If they were lucky, they wouldn’t be too fucked up the next morning.

Junhong had an odd dream. He couldn’t possibly know its meaning and frankly he didn’t want to know. But the face in the dream was Yongguk’s. It was him, sitting alone in one of the booths at Akuma. The lights were all wrong – not the blue Junhong had grown to like, but a hellish, burning red. The entire place was burning. Yongguk was in the middle of it all, unbothered, sipping his drink. Junhong was trying to run to him, to tell him to get out perhaps, but the faster he ran, the farther away Yongguk got.

When Junhong woke up he was utterly confused. His sweaty shirt stuck to his frame, the blanket had been kicked off the bed. The dream remained in his head briefly, the images were fading quickly. Junhong didn’t have the chance to make any sense of it before they were all gone, forgotten.

He woke up again to the sound of Minhyuk’s alarm and then his groaning.

“What day is it today?” He murmured from his bed.

“I don’t know,” Junhong responded so quietly that he wasn’t sure Minhyuk had even heard him.

A moment later he let out a sigh of relief and informed, “Saturday. For a minute there I thought we’d slept in on a Monday…”

Junhong took the time to thank the heavens that that wasn’t the case.

 

Both of them were holding up great. The headaches weren’t bad, they were in a good enough condition to do the weekly tidying.

Doing those dull, domestic tasks it occurred to Junhong how odd it was to think that less than ten hours ago he was on stage with Minhyuk with a quite large crowd screaming and cheering them on. It occurred to him that all the people who come there, to that supposedly elite club have a dull, domestic life of their own. Maybe not all of them, some might be weird adventurists, but most… Most of them were just like anyone else.

And so it occurred to him that Lisa, Jennie and Bobby must have been wrong. There was no way that Bang Yongguk or any of his friends were in any way special. Because they too had to go back to a life somewhere in the city, to either a family or an empty apartment or dorm, to school or a job, to the challenges of daily life. So what was it that made them so much better than everyone else?

Nothing.

 

Three weeks since the night at the club, Junhong was starting to crumble under the stress of daily life. Mostly school; juggling dance practice, studying for exams, going to classes, writing papers and doing projects all while trying to sleep enough and eat more than one meal a day.

He was on the verge of just giving up. Junhong truly hoped that it was just temporary weakness.

Minhyuk had asked him about it, if he was alright, if he needed to talk, but Junhong had shut him down.

Now, walking by himself, struggling not to burst into pathetic tears he was regretting having done so. He didn’t want to admit it to himself but he wanted to be held and comforted. He knew it was pathetic, but he wanted his mom, he hated being away from home and his dog. He hated not having anyone to confide in and no one who’d care enough to help him. How could anyone help anyway?

As he went down the stairs into the subway, it occurred to Junhong that Minhyuk would have been more than willing to help, to hold him or talk or do anything else Junhong needed. A bubble of guilt rose in his chest, he felt horrible for having been so cold to Minhyuk, for pushing him away when he asked what was wrong, for shutting him down when the younger was fussing about his crush just because he was jealous.

The subway was like a ghost town. Not completely empty, there were always people lurking around, but at that hour there were few enough for him to feel completely alone in the entire world. He walked slowly, footsteps echoing in the wide space. The light was bright, far too bright for Junhong’s tired eyes.

He stood on the edge and stared at the railway. He stood there, perfectly still for quite a while before turning around. The clock above showed in its flickering red light that the next train would arrive in three minutes. Junhong pressed his forehead to the cold tiles, his eyes sliding shut.

He truly was a pathetic excuse for a human being. He had few friends and didn’t deserve them. Even the friends he had didn’t care all that much about him. He wasn’t quite good at anything, his life was going nowhere. He’d contemplated enlisting early just so he wouldn’t have to deal with his future for another two years, but he figured in his current state it wasn’t wise. He was left to drag himself through college wishing he was dead.

A gush of wind ran through the tunnel behind Junhong, ruffling his hair and making him shiver. Then there was a siren and a bright light.

Junhong turned to watch the blur of a train come to a stop. He pressed he button for the door to open and walked in. He took the first seat he saw, the one facing the door. Junhong stared out, even though most of the time nothing could be seen but darkness and flashing graffiti. He watched as stops came and went, mindlessly reading the text from the posters all over the walls before they disappeared as the train moved on.

This was somehow different to the walk he’d taken alone. Riding the train by himself was a different realm entirely where somehow, despite the endless solitude he didn’t feel lonely. It was different to when he’d broken down crying outside the building, or his disappearing sobs with the crushing weight on his chest as he walked down the small, empty, dark streets. It was different to the near empty subway where the misery of his own existence had hit him.

This was somehow soothing. He was numb to everything that existed around him and he was calm.

But perhaps Junhong didn’t feel lonely on the train because he wasn’t alone.

The way he was zoning out, Junhong’s peripheral vision had not alerted him of another presence. It was the sound that attracted his attention and stirred him out of the daze.

It was a soft ‘thud’. Junhong’s gaze snapped up and he looked in the direction of the sound. There, on the other end of the train car Bang Yongguk was sitting against the window much like Junhong was. His head was rested against the glass, Junhong could assume that the thud had come from him letting his head fall back against the surface.

Junhong should have looked away. He shouldn’t have kept his eyes on Yongguk, watching as he raised the cigarette to his lips – his gorgeous lips that Junhong had never quite noticed up until he had such a good view of Yongguk’s profile and his lips, taking the cigarette and parting to let out the smoke.

He looked somewhat like a mirage, which may have been why Junhong was so calm about his presence. He was different when he was alone. Just as expressionless, but far more exhausted looking. It was written all over his face, some kind of burden he carried.

Yongguk looked calm, without the crowd around him, the eyes on him and the loud music. At four a.m. on the night train with no one around him, he looked calm and tired.

Junhong’s staring didn’t go unnoticed. It couldn’t have, soon Yongguk became aware of the heaviness of someone’s gaze on him.

And he looked to the left, locking eyes with Junhong.

The look was so much different to the one from Akuma. There, the emptiness of Yongguk’s eyes and the blankness of his face seemed to be the result of arrogance. Now, it was the result of aforementioned exhaustion.

Not that he could hide it if he tried, but Yongguk wasn’t even trying right now.

That gaze they shared was heavy with understanding. Both of them sitting on a train, not knowing where they’re going, trying to handle carrying their own weight. Trying to run from it.

In that moment, Bang Yongguk couldn’t be farther from what everyone thought of him. The version of him people posted about on instagram, the version of him Bobby, Jennie and Lisa were warning Junhong about. In that moment, it was evident that Bang Yongguk was just a broken man.

And so was Junhong.

So they both sat there, in silence. Yongguk broke it now and again with a sigh or a huff.

As they passed one of the stops, the clock showed five a.m. They’d been sitting in a train, approaching the final stop for over an hour.

And Yongguk finally stood up. He stumbled a little as he walked, not drunk or high, just tired and disoriented. He walked in Junhong’s direction, looking him in the eye.

Junhong shifted, holding Yongguk’s gaze, never faltering. He felt like something monumental was about to happen.

And then Yongguk stood and made a ninety degrees turn towards the door. He stood there with the remains of his cigarette between his graceful fingers, coat dangling in gentle folds as the car jolted left and right. The train came to a stop and Yongguk pressed the button for the door to open. He walked out, letting the door slide closed in front of Junhong, leaving him alone.

 

Junhong showed up at the dorm in the morning while Minhyuk was getting ready for class. Or he should have been. He’d been trying to reach Junhong, unable to think about classes and getting ready for them since his friend was gone and had been the whole night. When Minhyuk spotted the elder he pressed his hand to his mouth to suppress a cry of relief.

_“Where have you been!?”_

Junhong swayed with exhaustion, still standing at the door. “Minhyukie… I lied. I’m not okay. I’m so sorry,” he whispered, blinking away tears.

The younger pulled him inside. Junhong crumbled in Minhyuk’s arms and cried for quite a while. Neither of them went to classes that day. They stayed at the dorm and cuddled, watched movies, made snacks, anything to help get Junhong’s mind off of everything.

With his friend’s head laid on his chest, Junhong couldn’t help but wonder; what kind of a home had Bang Yongguk gone back to? Had anyone waited for him, worried and frantic about his absence?

Was he being held?

 

That weekend they went to Lisa and Jennie’s for a sleepover. They were going to go to Akuma again, but everyone had given up the idea in favour of helping Junhong recover from his most recent meltdown. It was a silent agreement, none specifying why the sudden change of mind had occurred.

But Junhong could tell that Minhyuk wasn’t very happy about it. He hid it well, for Junhong’s sake, not wanting the older to feel any guilt, but it was clear that Minhyuk would rather have been someplace else.

“Is it because of JinJin?” Junhong asked on their way home.

Minhyuk shrugged, looking away to hide his flushed cheeks. “I just want to see him perform again,” he muttered.

“Understandable,” Junhong said, not accusingly, but teasingly. “I’m sorry I ruined it for you.”

“You didn’t,” Minhyuk assured hastily. “We’ve got time. Now that the first time is over, we can go back as much as we please.”

 

Another week or so and Minhyuk and Junhong were asking Lisa, Jennie and Bobby to take them back to Akuma. It was inevitable seeing as Minhyuk’s silly crush only seemed to grow. Junhong stayed quiet about his own feelings, mostly because he himself was confused and didn’t know what he felt. He didn’t even tell Minhyuk about his and Yongguk’s encounter in the subway.

However, he was there to support his friend and the three were more than happy to take them.

 

Their second time at the club was supposed to be much more relaxed – now that they didn’t have to perform as rookies with the risk of embarrassing themselves – but both Junhong and Minhyuk were still quite anxious, now for a different reason.

“And what if he _does_ show up?” Minhyuk was saying while doing his makeup. “It doesn’t mean much if I can’t _approach_ him.”

“True,” Junhong said absently, scrolling through instagram. He was already dressed, sitting on his bed and waiting for Minhyuk before they’d meet up with the others.

“I wish I could do what Bobby is planning to do but would that even work? I mean, to perform and impress him, doesn’t he see many many performances every night he’s at the club?”

“Probably,” Junhong said.

Minhyuk sighed. “And besides, I have the same problem as Bobby. I can’t do it. The last time I only made it out alive because you were with me. I can’t go up there on my own…”

This was what made Junhong snap out of it and glance up from his phone. A tiny smile played on his lips, glad to hear that Minhyuk actually appreciated their shared experience.

Junhong hoped that he wasn’t imagining, but it seemed to him that they’d become closer ever since that night.

“You could try talking to him,” Junhong offered.

Minhyuk huffed, putting away his makeup brushes. “Have you _met_ me?”

“It might be easier than performing and hoping he notices you,” Junhong noted, getting up from the bed and stretching.

Minhyuk stopped to think about it. “I don’t know which is worse,” he decided in the end.

Before going out their room, Minhyuk stopped at the door to glance at Junhong. “Are you sure you don’t want me to do your makeup?” 

“I’m sure,” Junhong said, grabbing his jacket and walking past Minhyuk out the door. 

He didn’t care. Unlike Minhyuk, he wasn’t trying to impress anyone.

 

It was nice to be let in with a nod from the bouncer instead of being marked as newcomers. It was nice to know they’d take their usual spot by the bar and watch other rookies without worrying about being pushed onstage. 

Amber spotted them, smiling and waving quickly before she had to return to her duty as the announcer.

Junhong had to admit he was quite proud of himself. His and Minhyuk’s performance seemed to have left at least some kind of impression on the regulars and the staff. They’d found a video of it on youtube and it was quite the popular one.

And he could tell it was making Minhyuk swell with pride as well. Junhong was happy for him, he may not have been able to approach his crush just yet, but he definitely seemed more confident.

“I wonder what everyone was fussing about today,” Bobby said, looking around.

“You saw it too?” Junhong asked, leaning over to look at the elder.

Him and Minhyuk spent a little while in the Akuma tag on instagram; the club seemed to have a small subculture of people who followed its events, talking about who is expected to make an appearance at the club, the things that had happened, posting videos, moments, pictures etc.

They saw multiple stories about some big thing that was going to happen that night, which was what convinced Minhyuk and Junhong to go in the first place. As any rumour, no one had any idea where it had come from or whether the information was valid.

But they still went, curious to see whether something would happen.

“It happens a lot,” Jennie mused. “Someone says something and it starts spreading and gets blown out of proportion. I don’t expect much.”

They all agreed on this. They went on about their night, chatting as much as they could when the music wasn’t too loud, drinking and watching the performances.

And then the music quieted down for longer than it usually did. There was chatter and whispers, the crowd parting for someone.

Once the person appeared by Amber at the side of the stage, Junhong caught glimpse of a dark head of curly hair. The tattoo on his shoulder was visible, he was wearing a low-cut sleeveless shirt.

Amber didn’t announce him. He took the microphone from her in one swift motion, climbing the steps as if they were ascending into the heavens. And when he stood onstage, when his name was shouted and screamed, he seemed to be unable to see any of it.

No one existed to him. Yongguk was alone with the beat, with the words that spilled from his mouth. The thoughts turned into lyrics that Junhong imagined were written down in the early hours of the day or late hours of the night, when one’s mind was most clouded, when the heaviest thoughts emerged.

An image flashed through Junhong’s mind, of Yongguk that night on the train and he realized that this, the pain in his song was nothing but a tiny piece of the burden Yongguk carried.

It was a slow pace, contrasting every rapper that came to spit angry verses, yelled out with excitement or rage. Yongguk could do that too, he could be devastated to the point of anger, he could yell with despair and spit out more syllables than the mind could comprehend, but not now. In the usual chaos of the club Yongguk gave a steady number, making the words all the more crushing. They were given calmly, softly, showing how used to the heaviness Yongguk was.

This tiny piece of his mind the people in the club were hearing that night was nothing, just something he had to live with every other day.

Junhong wondered if anyone had held him when he’d gotten home that night.

The noise was unbelievable. As he left the stage, it was as if Yongguk’s audience had been an entire arena, not just a small club. The applause and the cheers, they were deafening.

Junhong watched him walking back to the platform where his friends were. He saw Yongguk pressing his forehead to Namjoon’s shoulder as the younger embraced him. Yongguk shook his head, dark curls bouncing around his pretty face. He dropped onto one of the couches and chugged down a drink.

“Oh no.”

It was Bobby. The voice made Junhong lift his gaze from Yongguk, turning it to his friend instead.

“Don’t do that to yourself, love.”

“What are you saying?” Junhong asked.

Bobby sighed and handed Junhong a drink. “Do yourself a favour and don’t fall for him. You’d be putting yourself among so many others… And they all think they’re special. That he’ll notice them above others. But he notices no one, Junhongie. He’s just like that.”

The younger gripped the glass. “I’m not like all others.”

“That’s not what I meant—“

Junhong chugged down the drink and stood. “The difference between me and all others is that I don’t idolize him and I am not delusional.”

He still wanted to keep it to himself, but Junhong knew a little about Yongguk that the others didn’t know. It made him different because he was able to drop expectations and see Yongguk for who he was, if he just let him.

Junhong turned to leave, but stopped. He turned and glared at Bobby.

“You—don’t get to lecture me about falling for the wrong person,” he said. He could have said much more but there was still reason within him.

Bobby was looking up at him under the brow, twisting his glass in his hand. It was so easy to snap at Junhong and start a fight, entertain all the people around them and let off some steam.

But Bobby knew as well as their three friends that Junhong was still hurting from his last breakdown, likely shaken by Yongguk’s song that had just ended and he could see that there was something else there making Junhong react the way he had.

When Bobby spoke, he didn’t sound upset. His voice was gentle. “I know. That’s why I’m telling you all this; I don’t want you to get hurt too.”

Junhong stood there and stared at his friend. He just wanted Bobby to be angry, make him regret stepping out of line. That would have been easier to comprehend than kindness.

But in the end he took Bobby’s hand and sat back down, leaning against him.

“We can go home if you want,” Minhyuk suggested, taking Junhong’s hand.

“Nah,” Junhong said and ordered himself another drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is Bobby's.


	4. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But then the lights lowered and Bobby could see again, looking to the table at the far end. Mino looked at him, dismissively and with no interest. That look pierced Bobby’s heart, not at all in a good way.
> 
> Mino muttered something to his friends and stood, walking away without looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh shit TWO updates in ONE DAY  
> but only because a big chunk was written beforehead  
> ANYWAY I hope y'all like these two chapters because I'll have to take a break from this and work on my other multichapter fic I've completely neglected it UGH

Bobby may not have been angry at Junhong, but the younger certainly had risen some important points.

_Falling for the wrong person._

His gaze flicked over to the table where Mino sat with his friends, laughing over something Taeil was saying.

Wrong person indeed.

He chugged down another drink. He was getting tired of it. He realized now that this pathetic crush cannot go on any longer. He at that point had two options: forget about and get over Mino or actually do something to at least try and get things moving.

Bobby wasn’t a quitter. He chugged down another drink and brought the glass down hard onto the counter.

“Guys, tonight’s the night,” he announced to his four friends.

They looked to him in interest.

“You’ve inspired me Junhongie. I’m gonna go up there and perform my song and Mino can either hate me or love me.” He said it with more confidence than deserved for such a loose plan, but his friends cheered him on nonetheless.

They were all a bit buzzed, not quite drunk but definitely not thinking clear enough to even try and find ways to fix Bobby’s intentions. They’d never hold him back, but fact was that his plan was flawed.

In their state, however, they just yelled, _“Go Bobby!!”_

He stood and pushed his way through the crowd to where Amber stood. He told her he wanted to perform and she replied that he’d be on after three other people.

It was the wait that killed him. All the performances were four minutes or so and with the transition between them it all added up to about fifteen minutes, twenty at most. But it felt like _ages_. The time spent in anxious anticipation while waiting for his turn completely wrecked Bobby’s nerves.

By the time it was his turn he was trembling like a leaf.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to his left to see Amber’s reassuring smile.

“Hey. Half the people here don’t have one percent of your talent and they still go up there to have fun. Take a breath, chill,” she told him.

He just nodded stiffly, looking ahead. She didn’t understand. It wasn’t just about having fun at the moment.

She ran up when the person had finished to see them off and announce Bobby. He climbed up whenever she’d said his name and let her squeeze his hand before leaving him alone.

He saw Mino, paying attention with half his mind, still in light conversation with Zico and Dongwook.

Bobby got a sudden surge of confidence. He was going to make him listen.

As he began, the lights shifted, the spotlight fell on him and blinded him, preventing him from seeing the audience. Perhaps it was better off that way – he was less nervous not being able to see Mino’s reaction – but Bobby still wanted to know if he was listening at all.

No matter. He carried on without a single care in the world, taking on a more confident persona to carry out the powerful performance. He carried himself with nonchalance and a touch of arrogance, spitting fire and verses that made the audience cheer.

Bobby stopped to listen, flashing a satisfied smile before he went on with more intensity, more confidence than he’d thought possible.

For a second he forgot all about Mino, not caring whether the elder was impressed or not. He strolled to the edge of the stage and crouched with his elbows on his knees. He reached out and let a few people take his hand before standing up and going back to the centre of the stage. He was supposed to give a stunning conclusion, the big finale.

But then the lights lowered and Bobby could see again, looking to the table at the far end. Mino looked at him, dismissively and with no interest. That look pierced Bobby’s heart, not at all in a good way.

Mino muttered something to his friends and stood, walking away without looking back.

Bobby missed his cue. Suddenly he was petrified, probably looking like a deer in headlights. Running would have made things worse. He improvised and rushed the ending, now just wanting to get away from the spotlight and to shake off the attention he’d enjoyed so much a second ago.

The audience itself had gone quieter, confused as Bobby bugged out.

When he finally reached the end, he didn’t wait for Amber to see him off, he just bolted off the stage.

His head was spinning and there was a constant beeping sound that only he could hear. It prevented him from hearing the thunderous applause.

 

Bobby wanted to be angry. He wanted to punch and kick the wall, knock something over, fight someone, but once he was in the bathroom he just cried.

Leaning against the wall, face buried in his hands he wept like a rejected high schooler.

 He didn’t know how much time had passed before the door swung open. He didn’t want to see who it was and he also didn’t cry with any less intensity. He was humiliated enough not to care if someone saw him sobbing.

“Bobby,” it was Lisa’s voice.

He curled up, making it difficult for any of his friends to hug him.

Lisa and Jennie sat to his left while Minhyuk and Junhong settled on his right. They all tried to comfort him non-verbally because Bobby was clearly in no condition to talk.

Once the sobs had settled down, Bobby unfolded, keeping one leg bent, his arm rested on his knee.

“Get me something to drink,” he said in raspy voice.

Jennie thudded a whole bottle of soju into his hand. “Hanbin was there,” she explained. “He said it was on the house.”

Not that Bobby cared for explanations. He just hoped he got alcohol poisoning.

Even though the sobs had settled, the tears didn’t quite yet. They didn’t stop coming as Bobby chugged down his drink. He sniffled and accepted the cheap tissue from the dispenser above their heads that Junhong had offered. He wiped his eyes and threw it away.

“I’m an _idiot_ ,” Bobby said hoarsely, staring at the already half-empty bottle. “Why did I ever think he’d notice me? I’m stupid. I embarrassed myself, now…  God, I’ll never come back here.” He lifted his gaze and threw a sorrowful glance around the bathroom as if already saying goodbye to the club.

“That’s an overreaction,” Jennie said softly, rubbing his thigh in a soothing manner.

“He just _left_ ,” Bobby said, voice cracking. “He probably couldn’t listen to me. I suck. Why the fuck did I ever think I could rap? How did I even get in in the first place? Fuck…” He pressed his palm to his temple and shut his eyes, causing more tears to slide down his cheeks.

“You really are being overly dramatic right now,” Lisa said sharply, leaning over Jennie. “You’re good. Just because he left doesn’t mean he didn’t like it, something may have come up—”

“What could have possibly come up?” Bobby snapped. “He was right there and then just went away! Either my performance sucked or it was boring and I don’t know which is worse…” He sighed and took another long swig from the bottle.

“Alright, you shut up and listen to me right now—” But Lisa didn’t get to finish her sentence because the door swung open.

All five of them looked up and stared in awe. Mino was standing in the doorway, looking as surprised as the one sat on the floor.

Bobby nearly started sobbing again. Not only did he embarrass himself onstage with his crush watching, but said crush had just walked in on him pathetically crying on the bathroom floor with four of his friends trying to console him.

He felt his soul leave his body. He’d have to fake his own death and move to Russia, there was no other way.

Bobby slumped to the side and heavily rested his forehead on Minhyuk’s shoulder, biting his lip to stop any pitiful sounds from leaving his throat.

“Well shit,” Mino spoke, shifting awkwardly. “Did someone die?”

Bobby huffed. _No, but I’m going to be dead soon enough,_ he wanted to say but he was afraid to open his mouth.

“Uuuh,” Lisa tried but didn’t really have a good answer.

Mino raised his eyebrows. “I can come back later…”

“No, no, actually,” Minhyuk said, trying to save the situation. He glanced to Junhong. “We were… We actually have to leave now, we gotta… Get him a drink,” he pulled the excuse right out of his ass, taking the bottle from Bobby’s loose grip to look convincing. Minhyuk finished the bottle and lightly nudged the elder and he just slumped to the other side, onto Lisa.

Minhyuk tried to send signals to Jennie and Lisa. “Right and you two have to…”

“Oh!” Lisa exclaimed as she caught on. She pushed Bobby off of herself and stood. “We gotta um… Fuck in the backyard,” she blurted out and grabbed Jennie’s hand. “We were so scared we’d have to leave our friend, it’s so good you’re here!” She told Mino. “Okay, bye now!” She shot and dragged Jennie out of the unisex bathroom.

Minhyuk was frowning at her excuse, his had been much better but he went with it anyway. “Right, we’ll be back soon,” he flashed a smile and took Junhong by the hand, pulling him to the door.

Bobby was at that point furious. What did they think they were doing? He knew they were trying to help, but this was not help. This was a death trap. Mino would probably just leave like he had during Bobby’s performance.

He kept his head in his hands, elbows rested on his knees. He couldn’t look at Mino. He’d never look at Mino ever again, he’d never return to this god forsaken club.

There was a flash of movement on his right, but no sound of the door opening or closing. Bobby peered through his fingers to see Mino sitting down next to him. Offering him a cigarette. Bobby stared.

“You look like you need it,” the elder said. “You don’t smoke?”

“Oh, I do,” Bobby said. He had no idea how he managed to speak at all, let alone so steadily. He reached out and took one out of the pack. 

Mino pulled out a lighter and leaned in to light the cigarette that was already between Bobby’s lips. 

“What happened?” Mino asked as he pulled back.

Bobby was truly hoping the nicotine helps him relax. On the other hand it definitely wasn’t helping with his breathing issues Mino’s presence was giving him.

“Just… I performed tonight. I was hoping to impress someone,” he muttered, closing his eyes.

“I saw, you were amazing.”

Bobby nearly choked. He darted forward, beginning to cough. Mino was startled. 

It took him a second to settle down, leaning back against the wall. He stared ahead, unable to look at Mino. _Liar_.

“Nah, it was… I messed up at the end. I lost focus because…” He sighed, taking a drag from his cigarette in hopes of calming down. “They left. The person I was trying to impress, they didn’t like it and they left. That got me distracted and I fucked up.”

Mino shifted, frowning. He didn’t dare assume but for some reason he felt called out. “That person’s an idiot. Your performance was really powerful. If you faltered at the end I didn’t see it…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “... Because I had to leave for a second, but I bet it wasn’t such a bad mistake as you think. You’re great, you know what you’re doing.” 

Bobby had no idea what to think. Mino looked _sorry_ for leaving and suddenly he felt like the biggest moron for getting so worked up before he had his facts straight.

Furthermore, had he said too much? Mino could easily make the connection…

“You’re just saying that because I’m crying in a bathroom,” Bobby said gloomily.

Mino nudged him. “Hey, I don’t spew shit. I mean it. Let me tell you a story.” He positioned himself so that he was facing Bobby. “I usually come here every day. You can tell I don’t have a life… But yeah I hang out here a lot. So that _one_ time I had something going on and couldn’t make it, Taeil – you know Taeil – called me the next day and started screaming at me how I’ve missed _so much_. He told me that it was insane, a friend of his, Pyo battled this other dude but it ended with them fucking in the bathroom and Yongguk and Ravi performed and I missed it all…”

Bobby remembered this because he had been there. It had been his first night and he was supposed to take the stage for the first time. And he’d realized that Mino wasn’t there and that there was no point in even doing it, but there had been no going back.

“He told me about this rookie,” Mino continued. “And yeah, I guess Taeil is easily excited, he hypes everyone, but hey even his boyfriends agreed. They said I’d have to check it out. I watched the videos they had and they’d been right. He was amazing.” He paused, resting his cheek in his palm, not taking his eyes off of Bobby. “I’ve been waiting to see you onstage ever since.” 

Bobby didn’t let himself believe Mino was talking about him until he spelled it out. He was shaking, conflicted, torn between disappointment and excitement. If Mino really liked him that much then why didn’t he stick around until the end?

“So why’d you leave?” Bobby snapped, before he had the chance to think about whether it was smart to ask. He put out his cigarette and angrily threw it away. It joined many others on the gray tiles in the corner.

Mino straightened up, pressing his lips together. “I’m sorry okay? Something came up. I don’t…” He frowned and looked to the side, trying to word his argument. “I don’t have to explain myself. But I didn’t do it because I didn’t like you.”

The mistake of asking was evident with Mino’s sudden defensive posture and sharp tone. But Bobby just had to know.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I wanted to impress you and—” Bobby cut himself off. He sighed deeply and sank further into himself. Why was his tongue always faster than his brain?

Mino smiled, which Bobby of course couldn’t see because he’d pressed his forehead to his knees and shut his eyes.

“I knew it was me,” the older hummed.

“Don’t mock me,” he mumbled.

“I’m not,” Mino assured. “I’m flattered.”

Bobby perked up, looking at him cautiously. He decided not to continue this argument as it was going so he said, “Didn’t you have to go to use the bathroom or something? Remember, you came in here?”

Mino huffed, shaking his head. “Right.” He stood and walked over to the sink. He rolled up the sleeves of his sweater that were otherwise too long for him, completely covering his hands. Bobby didn’t expect the sight. 

Mino’s knuckles were bloodied and bruised, but he washed his hands like it was something completely regular. He didn’t even notice Bobby looking.

“Are you okay?” The younger asked hesitantly, apparently not having learned anything from the last time he’d questioned Mino’s personal matters.

But this time he didn’t react badly. He just glanced down where Bobby was still sitting, the corner of his lips tugging up into a small smile.

“You’re cute,” he said. An answer, it wasn’t. It was meant to distract Bobby and it very well worked.

“I’m not,” Bobby mumbled. 

“Your unnecessary worry is adorable,” Mino explained, wiping his hands off his jeans since the last of the tissues had been given to Bobby by Junhong while he was crying. 

“I don’t think your friends are coming back for you,” he continued, swiftly changing the subject. “You wanna hang around or do you want me to take you home?”

Bobby stared up at the other, his voice getting caught in his throat. He coughed to clear it, “I’m sure they’re nearby.”

“I’m sure they planned this. We might as well go along with it,” he said, offering his hand to Bobby.

What was he gonna do, say no? He took Mino’s hand and pulled himself up. 

Even as he was on his feet, Mino didn’t let go of his hand. He led him out and started pushing through the crowd. Bobby knew where he was taking him – the part of the club he’d never dared to set foot in. Up the stairs and onto the upper platform with a few couches around low tables, facing the stage. That place had the best view and the most room. All tables were occupied.

 

They didn’t climb all the way up. Mino stayed on the stairs and yelled, “Hyung!”

Zico unwillingly pulled away, keeping his arms around Dongwook. He glanced to Mino, tilting his head to let Taeil keep kissing his neck.

“I’m leaving!” Mino announced in such a manner that made heads turn. Bobby shuffled closer, hiding behind him. He saw Suga, Namjoon and Ravi looking their way from a nearby table. Yongguk stayed unbothered, resting his head in Ravi’s lap. He seemed to be sleeping, but with the loud music he most definitely was not. 

Zico took a moment to analyze the situation and soon his displeased expression melted away in a knowing smirk. 

“Get it Mino!” He yelled. 

Mino grinned and flipped him off, taking Bobby back downstairs. He tried to calm his nerves by looking around, searching for his friends. He threw a glance at their usual spot by the bar and saw them there. They were trying to hype him and cheer him on without drawing too much attention to themselves – they didn’t want to embarrass poor Bobby.

“They’re gross,” Mino said and it took Bobby a second to realize that he was referring to his own three friends back up on the platform. “They can never get a room. They just gotta rub their love into everyone’s faces,” he kept complaining while leading Bobby outside.

“That’s why I have a car,” Mino added, pulling out his keys and flashing a smile at Bobby. 

His heart skipped a beat.

Mino opened the door for him and Bobby settled into the passenger seat, waiting for the other to get in.

“What’re you so nervous for?” Mino question once inside, starting the car. “Someone with that amount of confidence onstage doesn’t strike me as an anxious person.”

“I just… I know how to act,” Bobby admitted.

“So why are you nervous?” Mino repeated his question, driving away from the club and its red neon sign.

“They think we’re gonna hook up,” Bobby said, referring both to his and Mino’s friends. He tried to keep his tone light and joking, but Mino didn’t respond in the same manner.

“Well… Would you want that?”

Bobby’s heart was racing more than before his performance that night. He’d been tired, exhausted from his breakdown and the crushing disappointment in himself. Now he was fully awake and alert, unable to calm his nerves. 

As the car came to a stop at a red light, Mino averted his gaze from the street ahead and locked eyes with Bobby. Waiting for an answer. Bobby couldn’t speak.

The traffic light changed into yellow then green. Mino looked away and kept driving.

“Song Minho. That’s my real name, go figure,” he said, startling Bobby out of his daze. “What’s yours?”

 His mind short-circuited for a second. His nickname – and stage name – was so often used instead of his birthname that for a second he forgot he had one. “Kim Jiwon.”

“Well, Jiwon, the question stays. Am I taking you your home or mine?”

Bobby understood that Mino had to press the matter since he hadn’t given a clear answer. He would have to make up his damn mind – of course he wanted to sleep with Mino, but something seemed so off about that night, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of uncertainty.

“Take me home, please,” he muttered, hoping not to make Mino angry. 

He wasn’t. He just nodded and asked for directions.

 

It was a silent goodbye when they’d arrived. But as Bobby went around the car to get to his building, passing the window on Mino’s side he heard the elder say,

“Did I disappoint you?”

Bobby stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at him. The window was down and Mino’s head was rested on its rim. His gaze was steady, but he looked exhausted, like Bobby had never seen him before. 

“No,” he said without hesitation. “You’re not what I thought you’d be, but it’s not a disappointment.” 

Mino just nodded absently.

Bobby wasn’t sure what he was doing. He opened the door and took Mino by the wrists, pulling him outside. The elder was confused, but he let it all unfold without protest.

Bobby still didn’t know what he was doing. As usual he acted before he thought, bringing Mino’s hand up to his lips and pressing kisses to his bruised knuckles.

Mino stood still, watching. Then he moved, stepped forward and cupped Bobby’s cheeks. He leaned in, nearly closing the gap between them. In the last second he pulled back a centimetre, only to whisper,

“Can I…?” 

Bobby responded by impatiently pressing his lips to Mino’s, letting go of his hand to instead shakily wrap his arms around the elder’s neck. 

His lips tasted of nicotine and iron. But there was something intoxicating in the way he almost lazily moved his lips, tracing Bobby’s bottom lip with his tongue, showing no signs of eagerness; slowly, steadily driving him crazy.

Bobby was trembling. Mino took him by the hips and gently pushed against the side of the car, pressing into him completely. Bobby got the feeling – though he may have been wrong – that Mino was trying to make the kiss more intimate by getting closer. 

He pulled back when Bobby was nearly out of breath. The way Mino held him was nothing but gentle, yet he was still distant, looking at Bobby with half lidded eyes that held a peculiar spark.

Mino absently pressed their foreheads together, running his thumb over Bobby’s cheek with the lightest of touches.

“You should get some rest,” the younger stuttered. 

“I probably should,” Mino answered, but didn’t move. 

“I don’t think you should drive,” Bobby added, finding the remains of his confidence.

“Yeah,” Mino agreed once again. 

“Do you want to stay the night?” Bobby asked with one final wave of self-assurance.

Mino paused. “Yeah,” he said again. He pulled away to lock his car and let Bobby lead him to the building.


	5. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wanted to stay. He wanted to wait for Bobby to wake up, to have coffee with him, to just talk. But he didn’t think they were nearly on a level for such a thing. He didn’t think he was welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you call a poly relationship a "couple"? Anyway,

Mornings after Akuma Mino usually spent in his apartment, hungover, the entire day wasted away in attempts to feel any better.

That morning Mino was surprised to wake up to the soft light of the rising sun dancing through the drawn curtain.

He was surprised to be met with the sight of a sleeping boy when he opened his eyes. He was surprised that he wasn’t alone.

Watching Bobby’s peaceful features, Mino recalled the events of the previous night and the memories brought a faint smile to his lips. He couldn’t have hoped for such a gentle morning, instead of falling apart on his own.

Still... He wouldn’t know what to say to Bobby were he to wake up. Mino didn’t want to be anyone’s burden, so he figured he should disappear as soon as possible.

He slipped out of the bed as carefully as possible, but the poor boy was so knocked out he likely wouldn’t have woken up if an earthquake was to hit.

The apartment was quite tidy, but perhaps it was so because there weren’t many things in it. In the bedroom, there was the desk with books stacked under it and stationary scattered on top. There was the wardrobe and an empty suitcase by it. The small kitchen was joined with the living room. This space too was devoid of any personalized decoration.

In a way, Mino liked it. The space lacked the chaos his own apartment held, the chaos that made him so anxious but he never bothered to clean up.

He wanted to stay. He wanted to wait for Bobby to wake up, to have coffee with him, to just talk. But he didn’t think they were nearly on a level for such a thing. He didn’t think he was welcome.

Mino went back to the bedroom to pick up a pen and a sticky note from Bobby’s desk. On the note he wrote down “thank you for everything” and his phone number. He left it there and turned to throw one last glance at the sleeping boy, tangled in blankets.

And he couldn’t resist. Mino went back over and kneeled by the bed. He brushed the blue bangs out of Bobby’s forehead, revealing his face; lips slightly parted as he drew soft breaths, cheek smushed against the pillow.

Mino leaned in and pressed a light kiss to the boy’s forehead.

Bobby shifted, hugging his pillow close, a hushed sleepy noise escaping his lips. Before he could open his eyes, Mino was gone.

* * *

It was an emergency squad meet-up. They’d decided to have breakfast at the coffee shop that was equally as far from Bobby and Jennie’s place as it was from Lisa, Minhyuk and Junhong’s dorm. They figured that putting a tiny bit of effort into going out would be better than rolling around in a bed the entire morning.

Besides, Bobby had exciting news to share.

The other four were all looking at the note, pressed close together, reading the words over and over.

“You’re gonna call, right?” Jennie asked, beaming as she straightened up to look at Bobby.

He shrugged one shoulder, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah...”

“What do you mean ‘yeah’? In that _‘I’m totally not gonna do it’_ tone? You have an opportunity on a silver platter!” Lisa said, grabbing her milkshake and frowning at her friend.

“I’m just a bit confused by the entire situation,” Bobby admitted. “It’s very different to what I’d expect. _He’s_ totally different to what I’d expected.”

Junhong scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

Bobby frowned at him. “What?”

“That’s what happens when you set tons of silly expectations based off of someone’s stage persona,” he muttered into his mocha before taking a sip. “You should call. And be normal about it. Go on a date, talk to him. I bet he’ll surprise you even more when you finally shake off your expectations.”

They all stared for a little while, slowly processing the call-out Junhong had just laid out.

Bobby nodded slowly, taking the note and looking at it for another minute of silence. “I guess you’re right. I... Yeah, I’ll text him or something. Just, normal.”

 Junhong smiled, pretty proud of his influence. He was truly hoping for it to work out between the two, but he knew they’d get nowhere if Bobby kept viewing Mino as a deity.

On their way back to the dorm however, Minhyuk brought up Junhong’s earlier rant.

“Hyung... When you said all that to Bobby, were you maybe referring to someone else beside Mino?”

Junhong tensed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Maybe,” he answered vaguely.

“Yongguk, perhaps?” Minhyuk pressed, making Junhong sink further into himself.

His lack of response made Minhyuk think that he should drop the matter, but Junhong was only waiting for them to be in the safety of their room to speak.

He dropped onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. “You know how Bobby told me not to fall for Yongguk?”

Minhyuk nodded, going to sit beside Junhong.

“I think I have,” Junhong whispered.

Minhyuk didn’t react right away. He reached out and started playing with Junhong’s hair in a soothing manner.

“You’re right, you know. Everything you say about them, how they’re not special or different in any way, you’re right. You shouldn’t listen to Bobby’s warning, after all he’s the one who scored it with one of the _untouchable_ guys.”

Junhong sighed again and buried his face in his hands. “I don’t even know if I want to date him! I just want to be his friend...”

“It can happen,” Minhyuk said softly. “We’ll make it happen. We’ll do it together.”

Junhong peeked through his fingers. “Minhyukie.... There’s something I haven’t told you. I actually... I saw Yongguk. Outside of the club.”

Minhyuk shifted, leaning in in interest. “Oh?”

Junhong nodded slowly. “Yeah... On the train that night I... When I went out. We were alone.”

Junhong looked to Minhyuk, debating with himself how much to reveal. Simultaneously he wanted to keep the experience all to himself and to share it with someone, but it couldn’t have been just anyone.

Minhyuk at that point seemed to be the perfect person for Junhong to confide in, even though he still wouldn’t reveal all.

“He definitely didn’t look like the hardass everyone makes him out to be,” Junhong continued. “He just seemed so... Vulnerable. I swear it was like a Ghibli movie. It sounds stupid but I really feel like we somehow connected, even though we didn’t even talk. It was just a look.” He paused, recalling the event. Recalling the exact look in Yongguk’s eyes; Junhong shuddered. “I think he wanted to approach me but then he just left,” he said quietly, as if afraid to even bring up the possibility.

Minhyuk took a moment to let this sink in. “I think he’s hiding a lot. And it’s definitely not impossible for you to approach him. You’re a warm person, you know how to get to people in the best way possible,” he said at last.

Junhong looked at Minhyuk, letting himself relax. “I suppose... Thank you.”

 

Standing between Jennie and Junhong, Bobby simply couldn’t stop fidgeting. That’s why both his hands were currently being held by said two friends, who were trying to help him calm down.

“You can do it, when you see him just come up and say hi,” Jennie was saying in a soft tone as they waited to get into the club.

Bobby wasn’t responding to her encouragements because of one simple fact: he hadn’t done what he’d promised he would. He hadn’t called Mino.

He’d been too scared and confused. He didn’t want to seem like an annoying kid and, well, Mino didn’t call either.

Bobby had gotten the impression that that was it.

“Maybe there’s something you’d like to tell us,” Lisa suggested, leaning over with raised eyebrows.

“No…”

“You didn’t call, did you?” She said, giving judgmental looks.

“In my defence—”

“Bobby!”

His name was yelled out from across the line, catching the attention of many around the small group.

The five of them turned to watch as Mino jogged over, a bright yet unsure smile on his lips.

“Hi…” The elder said, flicking his gaze from Bobby to everyone else. “Hey, guys. We met the other day in the bathroom right?”

Lisa cackled and Jennie nudged her.

“Yeah, we did! I’m Jennie, this is my girlfriend Lisa and the boys are Zelo and Rocky,” she introduced.

After the greetings were given, there was a split second of awkwardness before Mino stepped forward and pulled Bobby in a tighter than expected hug. When he pulled away it felt as if the little bubble of awkwardness had burst; Mino was now standing as a part of their group, not before them as a newcomer.

He had an arm around Bobby’s shoulders, posture much more relaxed now. “So my friends are up front,” Mino said.

The whole group had an ‘oh’ moment, thinking that that was the end of their encounter.

“Do you wanna come with us?” He asked, glancing over the other four, then fixing his gaze on Bobby.

The poor boy nearly choked. “That – that’d be okay?” He asked, eyebrows raised.

Mino shrugged one shoulder. “Sure. I’d like to…” He trailed off, as if suddenly becoming aware of the fact that the two weren't alone. He addressed Bobby’s friends instead, with a smile. “We’d love to hang out with you all.”

“We?” Minhyuk perked up, not taking his eyes off of Mino.

Mino nodded and pointed to the front of the line.

The happy couple was there; Dongwook, Jiho and Taeil stealing glances Mino’s way, presumably waiting for him to return.

Everyone, especially Bobby, was once again in such awe that they couldn’t give a proper answer right away.

Lisa was the one who spoke up for all of them. “Sounds amazing, lead the way!”

Mino seemed to relax at the confirmation. His arm slipped from around Bobby’s shoulders and he motioned for them to follow.

Bobby fell behind a little, as to hide how whipped he really was, but that proved to be a mistake. Lisa took him by the ear and pulled him behind.

_“Why didn’t you call?”_ she hissed, not to let Mino hear.

Bobby threw a nervous glance ahead at the elder, checking if he could hear them. “I couldn’t okay!” He shout-whispered. “It was—things are complicated! I didn’t think anything more would happen—”

“Well clearly you were wrong. Learn from your mistakes,” she said and let go of him just when they reached the front.

“Let’s _go_ ,” Jiho said, “We’re holding up the line.”

His urgency was reasonable, so no one was particularly offended by the lack of introductions right away. As soon as they were inside, making their way up to the platform, the tides changed.

Jiho now had a small smile on his lips, falling behind to stand beside Bobby. He walked up the stairs with his hands in his pockets, making a very quick look-over of the younger before lifting his gaze to Mino.

“So that’s Bobby,” Jiho hummed.

Bobby didn’t know what to make of this. He’d just been evaluated in some way but possibly the worst part was that Jiho hadn’t addressed him even though he was standing _right next to_ the elder.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Bobby decided to say.

As he’d hoped, this made Jiho's attention shift.

He gave a small nod of approval, although Bobby wasn’t sure what was being approved.

“We don’t usually hang out with rookies, but you seem cool,” the elder said.

Sitting down on one of the couches, he pointed to Junhong and Minhyuk, who were about to take a seat on the one opposite of theirs.

“I saw you two, you were _amazing_.”

The two exchanged looks and they just couldn’t help it – they smiled.

Squeezing himself between Junhong and Jennie, Minhyuk said, “Thanks! It was… It was stressful, to be honest.”

Dongwook gave a sympathetic smile. “Ah, yeah, it always is… But hey, that’s a form of initiation and it’s why this place is the best.”

Junhong huffed. He couldn’t help it, although he had no idea where all the sass had come from. It was just that he couldn’t agree with Akuma being “the best” place.

“What?” Jiho asked and leaned in, his attention drawn to Junhong.

The younger threw a near nervous glance around. Giving a sarcastic reaction to something was one, but giving your reasons for such a reaction was another thing. Junhong wasn’t sure he was ready for that.

“Just… All this is…” He stammered, struggling to word his argument, suddenly made nervous simply by the presence of the people who were considered _important_.

He was falling into the trap he’d tried so hard not to fall into, that one he criticized so severely.

He cleared his throat. “It’s just not fair. It’s stupid how… popularity creates these little groups of… cool people, I guess? And it creates some sort of… dumb high school hierarchy.” His gaze kept wondering; Junhong didn’t have nearly enough confidence to fix his gaze on any of the four men whose gazes were currently piercing him, as he criticized what was essentially their way of life.

And then Mino shrugged. “I mean, it’s true. It was supposed to be just a place where we all get to hang out, listen to the music we all like, get a chance to perform and challenge our skills… But the whole performing thing just created a lot of competitiveness and…” He chuckled. “You’re right. It all turned into a stupid high school-type hierarchy.”

Junhong glanced up at him to give a grateful little smile.

“I don’t really care,” Jiho said, stretching. “I’m here to have a good time. But I guess you’re right, there are certain groups who just – think they’re so much more than they have the right to think. I mean if we’re being honest… Only a few of us actually make money off of music. We’re all the same kind of _loser_.”

Everyone agreed through murmurs or nods and Junhong was genuinely relieved to have found more people who agree, even within the so called popular group.

It was only a second of silence after these respective rants, and it was broken by Taeil, who said,

“I wouldn’t really know. I’m only here to cheer everyone on,” he hummed in such an innocent manner that it made everyone around him laugh. Jiho shook his head and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Taeil really was such an odd combination. His numerous tattoos, especially the large one on his neck, and the many piercings on his face alone would seem intimidating… If it wasn’t for his glasses and sweaters he always wore, his goofy smile and his height.

 

In all honesty no one from the small rookie group thought they'd have as much fun as they were having with Mino's friends. Junhong was happy to see that during their hangout Bobby seemed to have relaxed almost completely, no longer stiff around his crush.

He wished he could say the same for himself. Junhong had been anxious ever since it had been pointed out during a conversation that Yongguk and his friends were sitting not far from them – ever since then he hadn't been able to stop stealing glances their way.

And at some point it was everyone's attention that was drawn to that side of the platform, not just Junhong's.

It was loud talking, not quite a fight but definitely not a peaceful conversation either.

Frowning, Mino sat up straight in an attempt to see what was going on. He was displeased, his conversation with Bobby having been interrupted.

“Is it Suga and J-Hope again?” Jiho asked tiredly.

Junhong and Minhyuk exchanged looks. Per usual, they were the only ones who didn’t know what was going on.

Jennie, ever so helpful, leaned in to whisper, “Suga hates the unnecessary show, as he calls it, but he just means the dancing. He thinks it’s stupid and that there’s no room for it in this place. I think we’ve mentioned it to you.”

Both Junhong and Minhyuk nodded.

Junhong did remember some sort of disagreeing between the J-Hope-JinJin duo and Suga, but he hadn’t paid it so much mind.

He was now witnessing one of those instances that Jennie, Lisa and Bobby had mentioned on their way to Akuma when it was Junhong and Minhyuk’s first night.

What was giving the whole situation some hope was the fact that Suga was still sitting – although with his fists clenched and his whole body tense – but no signs of aggression. JinJin had his hand on J-Hope’s shoulder, trying to gently take him away.

It was inaudible from where Junhong and the others were, but both of them were yelling and soon enough J-Hope said something that made Suga snap and he tried to get up. To his left, Ravi pushed him back down with a hand on his thigh. The redhead looked up at JinJin and said something sharply, something that JinJin easily agreed with – Ravi had likely told them to go away.

JinJin then changed his approach of taking J-Hope away, no longer gently nudging, but full-on dragging him away. He was holding the elder around the shoulders, talking to him in a normal tone, which was the equivalent of whispering in a place with such loud music.

As the two passed, Junhong could hear soft sobs that were escaping J-Hope while he leaned against JinJin for balance.

“Everything okay?” Dongwook asked, making JinJin stop in his tracks.

The blue haired boy shook his head with a sigh. “Just the usual fuckery. But hyung’s a bit drunk too, so it was a bit worse than other times. He’ll be fine though.”

Dongwook nodded, pressing his lips together. “Take care.”

Next to him, Junhong felt Minhyuk shift as if he wanted to shoot to his feet, but he wasn’t sure if he should so he ended up in an awkward position of slowly getting up.

“Do you – do you need any help?” He asked in quite an unsure tone; the only reason why JinJin had even heard him was because he was standing right next to their couch.

“I’ll be okay. Thank you though,” JinJin said and smiled gently. “Let’s go hyungie,” he told J-Hope and took him along.

Minhyuk thudded back down in his seat, breathing heavily.

Both Bobby and Junhong understood how he was feeling – he was experiencing the after-shock of his crush having talked to him.

It was exactly one sentence, but did it really matter? Junhong’s crush had just looked at him and he was the happiest boy alive.

And, well, Bobby was on a whole other level at that point.

 

Although Bobby seemed more relaxed, he spent the entire night expecting something to happen, something that couldn’t take place in front of all of their friends huddled up, chatting and laughing, watching the performances and cheering, occasionally getting up to dance.

And maybe he just wanted it to be over with quickly, but he didn’t know what _it_ was so he couldn’t make a difference. He had to wait.

No matter the suffering of the wait, Bobby did feel good. What made it all so wonderful was how natural it felt, hanging out on the platform with these people wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as he’d thought it would be and he kept reminding himself to later tell Junhong that he had been right. It was all so natural, in fact, that Bobby had moments when he just stopped to think about it, when it hit him that _holy shit he’s_ _sitting with and conversing with his crush_.

Said crush was right next to him, often found laughing wholeheartedly at a joke someone from the group made or goofing around to make the others laugh, or, although more rarely, dancing to the music if he happened to like the song.

In those moments when Bobby stopped to think, he also stopped to look, fascinated by Mino who was being himself, being just as silly and loud as he wanted to be. This often resulted in a flustered Bobby and an amused Mino.

All this made the wait easier and it soon came to an end, although unfortunately it happened when Bobby was most careless, when he’d forgotten that he was even waiting for something.

Mino nudged him and leaned in to say, “I’m going out for a smoke, come with me?”

And Bobby’s heart suddenly sped up, reminded of that something he’d been anticipating. This was it.

He nodded and stood to follow the elder outside. Anxiety was eating away at him, but he was nervous about what Mino might say, not what he might do. There was never a moment Bobby felt uncomfortable with him or unsafe to stay alone with him.

He tried not to think too much about what was to come and instead just let it happen. There was a nearly unbearable silence as they both lit a cigarette each, filling the air before them with smoke.

“You just wanted to be alone with me,” Bobby said, being the more impatient of the two.

“Yeah,” Mino replied, not even trying to hide it or explain himself. “I wanted to talk, but now that I’m here... I’m not sure what’s there to talk about. I guess I want to apologize for leaving.”

Bobby’s shoulders slumped. “It’s okay.”

“Doesn’t sound like it’s okay.”

The younger frowned and straightened up, looking at Mino only to see that he already had his eyes on Bobby. Waiting for an answer, an honest one.

“It’s okay that you left,” Bobby repeated, trying to build more confidence into his tone. “The situation was... Weird, to say the least. You had the right to leave. It’s okay that you left the note, it was...”

“An attempt to make you understand. I guess it didn’t work out all that well,” Mino said with a sigh.

“I was just confused,” Bobby explained. “I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t – I didn’t call because I wouldn’t have known what to say—”

Mino waved his hand dismissively. “You don’t have to explain yourself. You didn’t call, you had your reasons. But you didn’t turn me down today so... I can only assume you don’t want to end things.”

“I definitely don’t want to end things,” Bobby confirmed.

In the silence that occurred it was evident that neither of them knew where to go from there.

That time it was Mino who broke it, with a bitter laugh. “Of all the nights in my life, you chose to meet me then.” The accusation had a clear joking tone to it, so Bobby didn’t take it to heart.

Mino went on, “I swear to God, were it any other night this all would have been different. We would have started differently.”

“It’s alright,” Bobby said.

He was thinking.

He had to figure out how to bridge this rift between them that was created by nothing but bad timing.

And there was only one way Bobby saw to do so.

He dropped his finished cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. He stood in front of Mino, taking a deep breath. He waited for the smoke between them to clear so that he could see Mino’s face.

“Will you go out with me?”

The elder stared in surprise, his hand dropping to his side. As his expression of shock melted into that of fondness, they both felt the rift between them becoming smaller, crossable.

“I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter started out great, but as I sank deeper into art block and stress from school, it became shittier and shittier.
> 
> Oh well. I had to update one of these days. I hope you were able to enjoy it, I hope it's not as bad as it seems to me.


	6. VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I gotta do it. I won’t be able to forgive myself if I give up now,” he said. “I’ll—We’ll do it and it’ll be fine. This isn’t just about JinJin anymore, it’s about me getting over this stupid stage fright. I’m a performer. I have to do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this generally harlmess fic got a Graphic Depictions of Violence rating before my mafia au

“Minhyuk!”

It had to be the sixth time his name had been called out that way during their dance practice.

He gave a bow and muttered out an apology.

He would have appreciated their instructor’s lack of immediate anger and her attempt to play it off, had she not said the notorious, cliché line,

“Why are you so distracted? Don’t tell me you have a crush?”

It took Minhyuk all of his strength not to roll his eyes at her. That would have gotten him into real trouble.

He heard Lisa muttering, “What are we, twelve?” Not loudly enough for the instructor to hear.

Minhyuk just looked down and apologized again.

 

“You do need to pull it together,” Junhong advised in the changing room.

Minhyuk lifted his gaze from where he was tying his shoelaces. “Please, not you too. Everyone’s up my ass, just please be the one person who isn’t.”

Junhong pressed his lips together in sympathy. “Alright... I can do that. How about we get bubble tea on the way home.” He walked over, having had dressed already, and stood by Minhyuk. “... In case you have anything to talk about.”

Minhyuk chewed on his bottom lip, taking his time tying his left shoelace. He straightened up slowly, ran his hand through his hair and stood up, picking his stuff up.

“I just... I’m thinking of doing something. That’s why I’ve been distracted,” he muttered to Junhong, not wanting the others around them to hear.

“Oh,” Junhong responded, leaning in to hear.

Minhyuk hooked his arm to Junhong’s, beginning to drag him towards the exit. “We’ll talk later.”

They met up with Lisa outside. She smiled, greeted and asked if they had any plans.

“Yes, actually,” Minhyuk informed. “We’re doing discussions over bubble tea.”

“Ooh,” Lisa marvelled. “What types of discussions?”

For a few meters, Minhyuk didn’t speak. “I need to meet Jinwoo.”

It took Junhong a moment to connect the dots; Jinwoo, JinJin.

Lisa, of course, already knew.

“Awesome! How are you going to do it?” She questioned, giving Minhyuk a light pat on the shoulder.

Minhyuk didn’t lay out his plan then, since they were close to the shop. He pushed the door open and a second later all three of them were caught up with ordering and paying their tea.

Only when they were out, slowly making their way to the dorms did Minhyuk speak,

“I want to do what Bobby did.”

Lisa nodded. “Understandable. It’s a good strategy to attract attention and it worked well for him.”

Junhong agreed with this also, but he had something else in mind. He remembered standing next to Minhyuk the first time they’d gone up on stage and he remembered clearly how much his friend had been shaking.

“That’s a great idea... But, uh, how are you gonna do it,” he said softly as to not make it seem like he was underestimating Minhyuk. Junhong was merely looking out for him.

Minhyuk in turn glanced at him almost pleadingly. “Well... I was hoping you’d help me. You know, go up there with me. I’ll—I’m afraid I won’t make it alone.”

Junhong pressed his lips together in thought. When he thought about it, he really didn’t have a reason not to help Minhyuk out, they were friends after all. And he had nothing to lose, he had no one to impress.

“I’ll do it. Don’t worry, I’ll be there for you,” Junhong said, giving Minhyuk a small smile.

Minhyuk returned it, relieved.

* * *

The music seemed to be miles away. Minhyuk’s ears were buzzing, he felt the cold hard surface of the tiles against his forehead.

Somewhere next to him, Junhong was saying, “You don’t have to do this. You can try another time or not do it at all. Minhyuk, it’ll be _okay_. Don’t torture yourself—”

Minhyuk opened his eyes and pushed himself from the wall, standing on his own two feet. Glancing at the mirror he was met with his reflection and it made him wince, he was sickly pale. He was still a bit dizzy after having thrown up twenty minutes ago, but he wasn’t giving up.

“I gotta do it. I won’t be able to forgive myself if I give up now,” he said. “I’ll—We’ll do it and it’ll be fine. This isn’t just about JinJin anymore, it’s about me getting over this _stupid_ stage fright. I’m a performer. I have to do this.”

Junhong stepped closer to him and reassuringly squeezed Minhyuk’s shoulder. Then he caved, pulling the younger into a tight hug. “You’ll do well. We’re gonna put on a show and everyone will love us like they did that first night,” Junhong promised.

Pulling away, Minhyuk let Junhong keep holding his hand, trying to ground himself that way.

As they walked out of the bathroom, Junhong ran right into Lisa, nearly knocking her over.

“Where have you guys been?” She asked. She seemed upset. “Amber just called your names!”

“Fuck,” Minhyuk muttered to himself. It did seem quieter than usual.

“Thanks for telling us,” Junhong said and started dragging Minhyuk towards the stage.

Amber glared at them subtly when they finally climbed up.

The way she said, “There you are!” Into the mic was joking, but as someone who needed to take care of schedules she couldn’t have been pleased by them running late as they were.

“Rocky and Zelo, finally with us!” Amber announced and jogged away, leaving the two alone.

Just like before, he was frozen until Minhyuk heard Junhong’s voice. Unlike the first time, they had a song prepared, but Minhyuk’s mind was now blank, he couldn’t remember a single word from it.

The odd thing was that he didn’t find it hard to improvise – in fact that was easier as he could speak from the heart, not having to spill memorized words. Junhong was confused at first, but he quickly saw what Minhyuk was doing and joined in.

There was something uplifting in that kind of cooperation, in the way they supported each other. Nothing around them existed, not the crowd, not the lights. Not even Jinwoo. Minhyuk was facing Junhong, the song was their conversation that everyone else was only privileged to hear.

Something Minhyuk did want to do for Jinwoo was dance – and this they did as planned. Junhong took over by the end, letting Minhyuk freestyle, hoping that the elder would see. Not many did that in their performances, but if there was anything Minhyuk was confident in, it was his dancing.

Ultimately, however, he had to end up by Junhong’s side. Because this was their moment, and they would be together until the end.

They laced their hands together as they had before they’d started, watched wide-eyed and breathless as the entire club cheered for them.

Squeezing Junhong’s hand, Minhyuk finally allowed his mind to wonder back to Jinwoo, to try to spot him in the crowd. He was there. He was right there by the bar, smiling, applauding.

Minhyuk’s heart swelled, he smiled brightly, and together him and Junhong bowed.

The elder leaned in. “This is your chance, Min. Go talk to him.”

Minhyuk looked up at Junhong’s encouraging smile. The confidence was somehow contagious, even though Minhyuk knew he couldn’t copy it all the way.

He nodded, giving a smile that was a fainter version of Junhong’s. “Come with me.”

“Of course,” he promised.

While Amber praised their performance and announced the next person, Minhyuk and Junhong were making their way to the bar.

They made sure to let go of each other, simply because they didn’t want to send the wrong message – they couldn’t have Minhyuk looking like a man in a relationship when he was trying to score it with his crush.

Minhyuk stepped forward and leaned against the bar, not sure how to attract Jinwoo’s attention. Junhong stepped in for him – he reached over and tapped Jinwoo’s shoulder, then swiftly moved back as if he’d done nothing.

Jinwoo turned around promptly, confusion flashing over his face. That expression changed quickly when he saw Minhyuk standing there, and his features were graced with a smile.

“Oh, hey! Rocky, was it?”

Minhyuk couldn’t help the stupid smile that made its way on his face – he was overwhelmed by the simple fact that he was speaking to Jinwoo, but for him to also know his name? Unbelievable.

“Yeah! And you’re JinJin,” Minhyuk said, trying to look less anxious than he felt.

Jinwoo opened his arms, shrugging a bit. “Who doesn’t know me?”

Minhyuk smiled brightly and dropped his gaze, unsure what to say next. Then he felt Jinwoo’s hand on his shoulder in a friendly little pat.

“You killed it just now. I loved your first performance too, but this was something else. It’s been, what, a month? And you’ve already improved so much.”

Minhyuk was stuck somewhere between bashful and beaming. “You remember that? Yeah, I was kinda lost... I have this stage fright...”

“I couldn’t tell, honestly,” Jinwoo assured. “Well, it was obvious that you were anxious, but who wouldn’t be? It wasn’t visible past something that’s usual. So don’t worry.”

Minhyuk looked up and nodded. His smile slowly faded as he started biting his bottom lip. This was his chance. He could ask Jinwoo out right now, this was his chance to—

“Minhyuk! Junhong!” At first the voice was too distant to sound as alarmed as it was. But then Lisa stood by Minhyuk’s side and pulled on his arm to get his attention. As he unwillingly tore his gaze from Jinwoo, he saw that her expression was nothing short of distraught.

“It’s Mino,” she told him. She grabbed Junhong as well and started dragging them away.

Minhyuk turned around, threw an apologetic look to Jinwoo. “Sorry!” He called after the elder who just stood by the bar, confused and pouting.

 

As Lisa dragged both Minhyuk and Junhong towards a corner of the club, Junhong couldn’t help but feel bad for Minhyuk, for his chance getting ruined like that. Overtaken by momentary frustration, Junhong dug in his heels and refused to move any further.

“What’s this about?” He demanded to know.

Lisa looked back at him angrily, then ahead, trying to tug him forward. “I’ll explain later!” She was looking through the crowd and Junhong realized that she was trying not to lose Jennie and Bobby who were quickly pushing through. Junhong was making it all the more difficult by stubbornly standing still.

“It’s okay, hyung,” Minhyuk then said. “I’m sure it’s more important than...” He trailed off. “...my love problems. Let’s go.”

Even if a bit reluctantly, Junhong let Lisa pull them along. They managed to catch up to Bobby and Jennie, although Junhong still didn’t know where they were going. Around the stage and under the stairs that led to the upper platforms – he’d thought that there was nothing there.

He saw Bobby’s purple head and Jennie trailing close behind him. He saw as Bobby suddenly collided with something – someone – and that someone holding him by the shoulders to stop him from falling over.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Junhong heard Jiho say. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Mino, he—” Bobby stuttered, trying to escape Jiho’s hold.

“Let me stop you right there,” he said, now pulling Bobby away from what Junhong identified was the back door. He had no idea the door was there, but now it was clear where they were going.

“Mino wouldn’t want you to get involved in all this. You and your friends should stay here,” Jiho said and flicked a nervous gaze at Lisa, Jennie, Junhong and Minhyuk who were behind Bobby.

“I’m not staying here! Listen, we’re wasting time, by now he could be—” Bobby cut himself off and looked up at Jiho pleadingly. “We have to go.”

Jiho was clearly still debating, but then Dongwook nudged him and said. “He’s right, we gotta hurry up. The more the merrier, right?” There was a dark note of sarcasm in his tone.

Jiho cursed and let go of Bobby. “Fine. But he will not be happy about this,” he warned and turned towards the door. One by one all of them slipped outside and as soon as the door was closed, Jiho, Dongwook, Taeil and Bobby broke into a sprint, with Jennie, Lisa, Minhyuk and Junhong following.

Junhong didn’t know where they were going or what was happening, but clearly it was nothing good.

It all became clear as they went around the building into a dimly lit alley and heard the noise – it was laughter mixed with frequent thumps and cracks of impact. The bizarrely reassuring thing was that there were no cries of pain – but not for long, Junhong could only imagine.

The scene came into view shortly after.

It was at least fifteen guys all gathered around someone who was being held up against the wall, though Junhong noticed that quite a few of them were busy holding back two others, who Junhong recognized from instagram posts as Pyo and Kyung. And they weren’t easy to restrain, there were at least three people for each of them.

The one being held up against the wall was Mino, facing a fairly tall brunette with a long face. This dude did not seem joyous. He was holding Mino by the hair and in the next moment his fist collided with Mino’s jaw.

Bobby sped up, but Jiho yanked him back.

“I told you to walk away,” the guy was saying as Mino stumbled.

He straightened up, slowly, and looked the angry dude in the eyes. “And I told you not to touch her.”

“I can touch whoever the fuck I want!”

For a second it appeared that Mino would reply verbally, but then he just spat in the guy’s face.

“ _Idiot_ ,” Jiho hissed and Junhong understood why – that type of provocation wasn’t smart considering Mino’s current position.

Needless to say, long faced dude was not happy. He took Mino by the hair again and turned him around, ready to slam his head against the wall.

Jiho saw it before it happened and he ran, with the others following soon after. Thankfully, the way they made their approach attracted the attention of the opposing group.

“Oi, Jung San—” One of the dudes called out, thereby stopping San from absolutely demolishing Mino’s face.

By the time Jung San turned around it was too late. Jiho grabbed him and pulled him off of Mino, then punched him square in the face.

In the commotion this action caused, Pyo and Kyung both managed to free themselves and chaos ensued.

The gang didn’t appear to be armed which was at least good. Junhong figured he could rely on his strength and height, although this raised worry for his smaller friends – like Taeil, Dongwook, Jennie and Lisa, even Kyung. It seemed that they’d have trouble fighting off this group of loose hooligans, but it turned out that “seemed” was the keyword there.

In the brief moments Junhong had the chance to check up on his friends he saw that none of them were having any trouble keeping their asses from getting kicked – on the contrary, together they all kicked a lot of ass. What they lacked in height, they made up with fury.

Their advantage was the fact that they had each other’s backs. Junhong, Jennie, Lisa and Minhyuk stuck together, keeping each other from getting ganged up on. Kyung had nearly gotten into that situation when Dongwook and Taeil came to his aid and the three dudes who’d cornered Kyung got their asses pounded into the dirt.

No one was left alone in the pandemonium.

Pyo had immediately run to Mino’s side where Jiho and Bobby had already been. Even though Mino could still fight back, he was unsteady on his feet and it was important to keep him away from biggest threat, which was, in this case, Jung San.

He was furious. He kept trying to get through to Mino and Jiho kept stopping him, although it was evident that it couldn’t go on forever. Jiho had received a few significant kicks and he was losing his breath, while on the other hand San was feeling quite murderous. It was when Jiho got knocked to the ground that things started going sideways.

It wasn’t any better on Junhong’s front either – they were still outnumbered and it was getting difficult to protect friends as well as oneself.

Junhong’s priority was the former.

He saw Minhyuk receiving a kick to the gut and nearly falling over. If he did, Junhong knew, he’d get kicked until he was spitting blood. Without even thinking, Junhong stepped in, pulled the guy off of Minhyuk and kicked him flat in the chest.

Junhong heard Minhyuk yelling at him to watch out, but it was too late. He spun around only to be met with a fist and he immediately collided with the street. There was no time for his vision to clear even, white dots filled his sight more and more as the person who’d attacked him kept colliding his foot with Junhong’s stomach and chest, over and over, and all he could do was try to protect his face.

Junhong gagged, coughed and spat out blood. He tried to stand, but was only knocked back down. It kept going and going, until it stopped.

He had no idea what had happened. He sat up, immediately got nauseous but he forced it down, kept blinking until his vision cleared more or less, enough to look around to try to see what was going on.

And he saw the strangest thing. Jiho was still on the ground, Pyo was standing but just barely, Bobby was shielding Mino, but they were all staring ahead. There was Ravi, punching San until his mouth was flowing red.

There was Suga, standing before Taeil, Dongwook and Kyung, kicking a guy in the balls so hard he probably saw dancing stars. There was RM, helping Jennie up while Lisa elbowed a guy who was trying to jump them to the side of his head.

And there was Yongguk, offering Junhong his hand.

He took it, pulled himself up, and got ready for more, but nothing came his way. Both sides were exhausted, but there was something significant happening that made the opposing gang back down.

Ravi was holding San by the hair, because he couldn’t stand on his own.

“Don’t you fucking dare show your face here again,” Ravi was telling him, surprisingly calmly. San was still struggling, but those were the last bits of fight in him.

Mino then pushed past Bobby and walked over. He stood before San, his fists shaking at his sides.

“Let go of him,” Mino told Ravi. “I don’t hit restrained people.”

Ravi did as Mino requested. San staggered, he was barely standing, but his pride was infinite. That was at least something to be respected. Mino deflected his weak punch with ease, and kicked him in the groin. This was when San fell down and didn’t get up without the help of his pals.

Mino didn’t tell him anything. Ravi’s point had been made. They all stood together, stared Jung San down until his friends picked him up and their gang scrambled away, out of the alley.

It was a moment to be celebrated, but none of them did. When Bobby tried to take Mino’s hand, he pushed him away.

“ _What_ are you _doing_ here?” Mino snapped, taking a step back. He could have been angry with Jiho for not keeping Bobby out of it, but not even in his rage could he be angry with a friend who was currently being picked up from the street by Pyo.

“I came to help,” Bobby said, frowning.

“You got yourself into trouble, that’s what you fucking did! I told you to stay out of it, why can’t you just listen?”

Bobby didn’t know what to say to this. He had truly done what he’d thought was right and he was frustrated because he was being reprimanded for it. He didn’t say anything. He stared Mino down, arms crossed firmly.

Mino was the one who turned to walk away. He stumbled, and immediately RM and Kyung stepped towards him but Mino just raised his hand.

“I’m fine. I’m fucking fine,” he spat and started back towards the club.

Pyo did too, with Jiho who was conscious, but barely standing. Following their boyfriends, Kyung, Taeil and Dongwook joined them.

It seemed to be over. Junhong was already looking at his friends, trying to see if they were hurt too badly.

But then all five of them received a very judgmental look from Ravi. “He’s right, you know,” he said.

“What!?” Bobby asked, voice cracking from the built up frustration.

“He’s _right_! You kids had no business here! You only got yourself into shit that you can’t handle!”

“What were supposed to do?” Lisa barked back at him.

“They ganged up on Mino, we had to even the odds!” Jennie added.

RM walked over and placed his hand on Ravi’s shoulder. “What he’s trying to say is that you could have gotten seriously hurt. You should have called us and stayed out of it. What would you have done if police had been involved? You guys still go to school, you don’t need that type of dirt on you.”

“You’re talking as if you’re highly qualified or something,” Junhong pointed out, narrowing his eyes at RM. This comment made him press his lips together in a displeased expression.

“I don’t see how protecting our friend is wrong,” Junhong added.

Ravi rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles. “It’s not— _wrong_ , we just—we can’t be responsible for your reckless asses!”

“You are not responsible for us!” Junhong retorted.

“Hey, break it up,” Suga cut in, even stepping between Ravi and Junhong. “It’s over now, it doesn’t even matter.”

“No, it matters if he’s gonna be this entitled,” Junhong said, taking a step forward. “You aren’t responsible for us on any account, for you information. You can fuck right off with that attitude.”

Ravi tore from RM’s hold and stepped forward, his hand twitching. “You watch it—”

Yongguk extended his arm to stop Ravi from coming any closer to Junhong. “Leave him alone, man. He’s just a kid.”

Junhong nearly lost it at this. But because he was sane enough not to attack Yongguk, he ended up just glaring at him. “Just a kid!? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Yongguk gave Junhong his signature tired, uninterested look. “You all acted like god damn children. Just because Song Mino gets himself into some crap doesn’t mean you have to follow him into it. You should have just stayed put like he fucking told you instead of playing gangs.”

Bobby couldn’t listen to it anymore. He turned on his heel and stomped away.

Not wanting him to wander on his own, Jennie threw Lisa an apologetic look and went after him.

“Yeah, I guess caring about something, _anything_ , is childish. I guess you’re so mature because you suppress your feelings until there’s nothing left in you,” Junhong hissed.

Yongguk crossed his arms, his eyes darkening as Junhong spoke.

And despite Lisa’s quiet warning, he continued, “Why do you do that, huh? Because you’re afraid to get hurt? Why do you always go onstage alone? Are you that scared to lose for once?”

“Are you challenging me to a battle, is that what you’re doing?” Yongguk asked calmly.

Junhong paused. That wasn’t at all what he was doing, but now that Yongguk had mentioned it, it wasn’t a bad idea at all. “Yeah, I am.”

“Fine then. I’ll see you at Akuma next week. I hope you understand that if you don’t show up you’ll look even more ridiculous than you do now,” he spat and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: puts SanE into fic just so he can get beaten up


	7. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No.1

Bobby stumbled towards the bathroom, having left Jennie behind with Pyo and Kyung.  The two were gathered around Taeil’s car, where Jiho was cuddled up to Dongwook.

Bobby didn’t stay with them. He was worried, yes, but Jiho had people taking care of him. Mino, on the other hand, had stomped away on his own.

He expected Mino to have returned to Akuma, unless he’d driven home immediately, which Bobby hoped wasn’t the case.

_Please be there.._

_Please be there.._

He pushed the door open.

Mino was there, leaning over the sink as he washed his hands and face. When he heard the door open he jerked up and looked behind himself. Seeing Bobby, he just shook his head and turned back towards the mirror.

Bobby slowly walked over. For a little while he just stood by Mino, then carefully reached for his hand. Mino didn’t stop him.

“I only did what I thought was right,” Bobby said, looking down at their interlocked hands. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you getting hurt, I couldn’t—”

“I can’t stand that thought either,” Mino said, frustration cracking his voice. “That’s why I wanted you of this, out of all of it.” He sighed, swaying a bit on his feet.

Bobby knew what Mino needed and he knew that he didn’t want to ask. Slowly, Bobby wrapped his arms around the elder’s waist and pulled him in.

“People got hurt because of me today. My friends,” Mino muttered, resting his forehead on Bobby’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if you’d gotten hurt too.”

Technically, Bobby was. He’d gotten his fair share of bruises and swelling, but he knew that Mino meant something more serious, like Pyo and Jiho.

“We knew what we were doing. All of us knew what were getting ourselves into,” Bobby said softly. “We did it for you, it was our own choice. But it’s over. It’s over now, there’s no use beating yourself up over it.”

Mino sniffled and clung onto Bobby. For that one second, he let himself be weak.

Just that one second. Then he straightened up and stepped out of Bobby’s hold, leaning against the wall behind him.

“What even happened?” Bobby asked.

Immediately anger sparked in Mino’s eyes and he huffed, making a small motion of his fist, clearly trying to restrain himself. “He—Jung San is—He’s been a nuisance ever since he first showed up here! That night.. That night we met, when you performed, I saw him—” Mino shut his eyes. “—I saw him put his hands on a girl, she clearly wasn’t into it. He was—he got aggressive I—I lost it, Bobby, I lost it.”

Bobby rested his hand on Mino’s shoulder. “You did the right thing. I’m not happy it got you in so much trouble, but fuck it all, you did what was right.”

Mino let out a sigh and slowly let his fists unclench. His shoulders dropped and as rage withdrew from his features, all that was left was exhaustion.

“Let’s go home,” Bobby suggested, gently tugging on the hem of Mino’s shirt. “Would you… Want to come over?”

Mino paused, then nodded. “Thank you. Thank you Jiwon.”


	8. VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Good morning!_
> 
> _In the light of recent events, we are inviting you to have a little chat at the Sowol-ro Starbucks next Saturday at 10 am._
> 
> _See you there!_
> 
> _Hyuna &Jessi_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Big ass note:**  
>  There is a rap battle in this chapter, but I need to point out that I am in no way a lyricist nor am I good at improv, so the stuff I wrote is more like paraphrasing in order to get the point across, which is why it's in italics and not under quotation marks. Just don't judge too hard ok ;;

Junhong quickly realized that he would have to stand his ground against his friends because they were all freaking out _for_ him.

He had to pretend to be confident in his decision and to pretend that it hadn’t been absolutely spontaneous and impulsive. He had to pretend that he knew what he was doing.

Thankfully the freakout didn’t last long, because in the morning, something even scarier happened.

Minhyuk received a call from Lisa, who was restless to say the least.

_“Did you two get the email too??”_

Minhyuk frowned, glancing to Junhong, who was listening, in confusion. “What email?”

_“Did you not get it or have you just not checked your mail recently? Check your mail right now and tell me,”_ Lisa said and went quiet to let them do it.

Both Junhong and Minhyuk did exactly that and found that yes, they both got an identical email and it must have been what Lisa had called them for.

“We got it,” Minhyuk said wearily, quickly passing his gaze over the contents. He froze when he saw the names signed.

While him and Lisa talked, Junhong took the time to actually read the thing.

_Good morning!_

_In the light of recent events, we are inviting you to have a little chat at the Sowol-ro Starbucks next Saturday at 10 am._

_See you there!_

_Hyuna &Jessi_

 

The cheerful tone in the club owners’ message was clearly ironic, but still there was no use assuming anything. They were in trouble, no doubt about that, but they all agreed not to jump to conclusions and most of all, not to point fingers.

It was difficult keeping silent and not thinking about what was to come for an entire week, but what got to Junhong the most was the postponing of his and Yongguk’s rap battle and the fact that they’d be seeing each other before it.

He didn’t want to be forced to see Yongguk or spend any kind of time with him before dragging his ass through the dirt.

Because Junhong was going to do so. He wasn’t going to let himself be humiliated and he was going to expose Yongguk for who he was.

* * *

They didn’t speak amongst each other on their way to the Starbucks that Saturday. If they started talking, they were afraid they’d do all of the things they’d promised not to.

It was the five of them together, Jennie, Lisa, Bobby, Minhyuk and Junhong. They were on their way to meet up with Mino, Jiho, Taeil, Dongwook, Pyo and Kyung.

Out of them all it was Mino who was most anxious, and everyone understood that he had the right to be since he’d been the one to start the entire thing.

“I’ll take the blame,” he’d said. “I don’t want you all to get in trouble.”

“Shut up,” Jiho had responded. “We’re in this together now.”

It was the end of that argument, though there was no doubt that Mino would still do anything for the others not to suffer many consequences.

Junhong didn’t want him to, though. Everyone who’d joined had known what they were getting themselves into and he didn’t feel the need to be protected. He could tell that everyone else felt the same.

If there was silver lining to all of this it was that Jiho and Pyo weren’t in a hospital or in need of much care.

 

They were gravely quiet as they walked into the Starbucks, even though that seemed impossible for such a large group of people. The truth was that they were all freaking out.

But what they walked in on looked nothing like a reaping that they’d all expected.

Hyuna and Jessi were seated with Yongguk, Ravi, Suga and RM who didn’t seem at all tense or anxious. They had their coffees, doughnuts and other snacks and they appeared to be having a light conversation.

When she spotted the rest of them, Hyuna slightly sat up and waved, smiling brightly.

Many chairs needed to be pulled over and it felt crammed at the three small tables pushed together, but some didn’t mind sitting in the back, like Junhong himself. He wanted to be as far from Yongguk as possible.

“Hi boys!” was Hyuna’s cheerful greeting.

Minhyuk and Junhong exchanged looks. The fact that her and Jessi didn’t seem pissed was all the more unsettling.

“Does anyone want anything to eat or drink?” She proceeded, looking over each of the newcomers.

They all turned the offer down with shaking of their heads or quiet “no”s.

Hyuna shrugged and kept nibbling on one of the doughnuts, whilst Jessi scrolled on her phone without looking at anyone. While eating, Hyuna once again looked over everyone.

“Oh, there are the new kids,” she hummed, leaving her doughnut on the plate and instead resting her chin in the palm of her hand, elbow on the table. “I’m Kim Hyuna. Me and Jessi,” she gestured, “Are the owners of Akuma. We aren’t very happy with last week’s events.”

Jessi huffed at this. She locked her phone and crossed her arms, shooting daggers at everyone present. This was the indication that the scolding had begun.

Hyuna reached over and lightly ruffled Mino’s hair. He winced, but let her.

“Mino, Mino, Mino… You never learn.”

He shifted and started to say something but Hyuna raised her hand and he gave up on trying to speak for the time being.

“I know, I know. We got your message and we understand the situation and the need to act swiftly. But we still don’t like your level of involvement and we certainly don’t approve of the breakout you caused, or how many people were dragged into it.”

“I didn’t ask them to—” Mino tried but one look from Hyuna made him quiet.

“The solution isn’t for you to get your bones broken. We understand that your friends wanted to keep you safe. Heaven knows not even Jessi and I can stop your friends from helping you. What you need to understand is that Akuma is not a place where you find a punching bag and take out all of your frustration on them – no matter how justifiable your actions may be in this case, no matter whether that person deserved it or not. I don’t want you causing any more trouble. I don’t want any of you to act as though you can bring your rage to our club and leave it there,” as she said this, she scanned the group once more.

It was as if Hyuna could stare into their souls, recognizing exactly whose motive was of that kind and who was only tagging along. It reflected in the way she kept her gaze longer on the likes of Mino, Ravi, Yongguk, RM and Suga.

She then turned to the last four mentioned with a disappointed shake of her head. “I expected more from you.”

“If we hadn’t stepped in—” Ravi started, leaning in and ready to argue.

Hyuna once again lifted her hand. Angry though he may have been, Ravi leaned back in his chair and didn’t speak again.

“You helped, you made Jung San retreat. You also put him into a hospital. And I don’t think any of you here understand how much bullshit you brought on us this way. What would you have done if the police had gotten involved? What would _we_ have done? I’ll admit that this is the best possible outcome – very kind of you to take the fight outside of the club – but let’s make something clear—” She placed her palms flat on the table and made sure for everyone individually to feel the burning of her gaze. “—if we are ever forced to close down Akuma because incidents like this, Jung San will be the least of your worries.”

She leaned back picked her doughnut up again. Junhong was fascinated by how adorable the action seemed, even with the remains of fear and uneasiness she’d just caused in every one of them to stir.

“Not that we would ever let that happen,” she added after a bite. “You brats don’t have the power to ruin our business, we simply won’t allow it.”

Jessi had stayed perfectly silent while Hyuna had done her part of the disciplining, not even indicating that she agreed through facial expressions or similar; but undoubtedly she did agree. She would have stopped Hyuna if she didn’t.

Now that Hyuna was finished, Jessi sat up and addressed the elder four again. “Maybe your stepping into this fight was only to help,” she told Ravi. “But you’ve been causing trouble for a while now.” She then singled Suga out with one sharply accusing glare. “Yoongi. If I hear anything about Jung Hoseok again I’m going to _flip_. Figure that shit out without making a mess every time you see him. I’m fucking sick of it. Hurt each other with words all you want but if there’s another fight we’re gonna kick both of your asses out. I don’t care if that’s _how chicks do it._ You’re not manlier when you break each other’s skulls, you’re juts fucking uncivilized.”

Yoongi was angrily tapping his foot, clearly he had much to say but restrained himself. He wasn’t looking at Jessi, rather staring ahead emptily with his arms crossed.

“To summarize,” Jessi said, “If this kind of incident ever repeats itself,” she looked at Mino, who was clearly having trouble holding her gaze, “ _Call. Security_. Don’t give out justice on your own, it only makes a mess. Understood?”

Everyone agreed with a unanimous “understood.”

There was a silence that was clearly there in order for everything said by the two owners to sink in.

It was broken when Jessi asked Hyuna, “Was that all?”

Hyuna paused mid bite and shook her head.

“Right, we didn’t tell them about banning them from the club—”

There was a collective wave of shock rolling over everyone at the table, with only Jessi and Hyuna being immune to it.

However before anyone could even utter a broken “what!?”, Jessi continued,

“—but we thought it was too severe a punishment for our favourite boys. After all, it was more fun seeing you all so scared.”

First everyone relaxed, hearing that they weren’t, in fact, kicked out. But then the bolder of them even snickered.

Junhong found his breath momentarily leave his lungs as he laid eyes on Yongguk, who was shaking his head and smiling. Junhong was pretty sure he’d never seen him smile before, and he was angry with himself for finding it so beautiful.

“You’re awful,” Yongguk told Jessi. Still smiling that gummy smile of his. Junhong wanted to punch him.

Jessi only grinned back, nudging him a little.

“ _Now_ are we done scolding?” She asked Hyuna, who this time around nodded.

Jessi then, still smiling, punched Ravi’s shoulder so hard the sound carried. He didn’t flinch, but he rubbed his arm when Jessi wasn’t looking.

“ _Man_ , that was awesome!” She exclaimed. “That bastard had it coming!”

Hyuna hummed in agreement. “Jung San had been a pain in the ass for a while, but up until now we haven’t had any solid reasons to deny him entrance. You did well. Would have bashed his head myself if I didn’t have so much to lose.”

“Listen,” Jessi said, leaning over the table. Unlike a second ago, she now had the biggest smile on her face. “You’re still not allowed to engage with him, but should he ever show his ass near Akuma again, he will get another beating,” she assured. “Just don’t do it yourselves. You dumbasses need to take care and lay low a bit.”

There was a wave of relief that rolled over the entire group, they were starting to chuckle and agree with Hyuna and Jessi – “yeah, he totally deserved it,” “fucking bastard” and so on.

“ _Now_ does anyone want drinks or snacks?” Hyuna exclaimed.

This time they didn’t turn her down.

* * *

He didn’t know how he was so calm. Perhaps it was the fact that everyone else had freaked out about the rap battle so much that Junhong had nothing else to add – he was forced to be the only sane person around.

Perhaps it was the fact that he knew what to expect. He was sure that he knew what Bang Yongguk had to tell him and that he would be able to respond to it.

Truly, after getting over the initial anxiousness, Junhong had never felt more ready for anything in his life. There was a certain kind of fear, buried deep down, that his calmness was temporary. He remembered Bobby’s withering confidence as he saw Mino leaving, his pale face and wide eyes, the beat that continued on without his voice; he remembered Minhyuk standing beside Junhong looking terrified in the spotlight, unable to utter a word until Junhong had encouraged him—the mere thought of him freezing up like his friends had made his insides twist.

Sure he was alright now, but what if his knees buckled once he was faced with Yongguk?

“Take your own advice,” Minhyuk told him in the car. “He’s nothing special, he’s no better than any of us. Just another loser who hangs out at a hot spot for wannabe rappers.”

Junhong only nodded.

He repeated those words to himself while Amber announced them. He didn’t hear her, he didn’t hear the crowd. He only heard the echo of Minhyuk’s voice and his advice.

He moved through the crowd once his name was called. He thought he could hear a waterfall nearby, as if standing in the middle of the Niagara Falls, but it was only his blood rushing through his veins.

There was tension in his gut that spread through his chest, and it was paralyzing, but as Junhong climbed the stage on one side, watching Yongguk approach from the other, he realized that it wasn’t fear, it was excitement.

Standing between them, Amber handed them each a mic before withdrawing.

Left alone on the stage, face to face with Yongguk’s narrow, judgmental eyes, hidden behind messy locks of dark hair, his gorgeous lips that were always tugged downward, Junhong still wasn’t afraid. Up close Yongguk didn’t seem as intimidating as from afar. In fact he didn’t look intimidating at all, rather… Delicate.

Because from afar Junhong couldn’t notice that in certain light his eyes were golden, not simply brown. From a distance he couldn’t notice the curve of his cupid’s bow, or the perfection of his cheekbones.

Also, from afar Junhong couldn’t notice that he was, in fact, taller than Bang Yongguk.

It made him feel powerful; even though he knew well that height had nothing to do with rapping skills, it was a confidence booster.

Yongguk was the one who began, he didn’t even give Junhong a chance to take a breath. He didn’t even have to say a word, he merely needed a gesture and he had a beat.

_I told you to go home. Isn’t it past your bedtime? What are you doing here? Looking for a lullaby?_

_You know this isn’t a place for you, so what are you doing here?_

_Picking fights with people bigger than you won’t get you anywhere. If you want to be someone, you gotta work for it. Instead you’re here, trying to prove something._

_You’re only embarrassing yourself, kid._

_You’re not an artist, you’re an amateur. Go back to school and learn, come back when you’ve learned._

_When you’ve lived._

Yongguk’s style was simple and predictable. He said what he had to say in his usual deep tone, expressive yet calm. He didn’t look away from Junhong for a second, but unlike other rappers when battling , didn’t feel the need to get all up in his space to prove a point; clearly he was confident enough in his words.

Junhong took note of this, it was a good strategy to copy, considering he too was very confident in what he had to say.

That being said, Junhong was very happy to see that it went exactly as he’d expected. Halfway through he’d actually started smiling.

The fact that he was snickering in his face, and in the face of a crowd that was booing and laughing at Junhong just like he’d wanted, made Yongguk furious.

“So I’m young. Do you have anything else to tell me?” Junhong said into his mic and the crowd settled a tiny bit, curious to see how he would respond.

_I may be inexperienced, but I’m learning. I may be young, but I see you._

_Wanna know what I see?_ He paused, tilting his head. _Fear._

_What are you afraid of, hyung?_

_You tell me to learn, but you’re afraid of leaning. You’re afraid of people so you stay with the same friends, here where it’s safe._

_You never show emotions, you think it makes you tough, but it only shows that you’re scared._

_You’re scared to get hurt, so you sing about your pain instead of feeling it._

_You’re trying to protect yourself, but you only end up being a coward._

_You’re not better than me, or anyone here. What you have is an attitude that fools everyone else, but not me._

_I see you, hyung. I see your fear._

Junhong thought he’d seen Yongguk step back at some point and it only made his confidence grow. By the end, Yongguk had his arms crossed and his knuckled were white from how much he was clutching the mic.

When Junhong was done, he raised his arms in a shrug kind of motion, though he didn’t drop the mic, he felt it was too theatrical.

He couldn’t say that Yongguk exactly left with his tail between his legs – that man simply had the kind of attitude to never appear defeated, even when he was. After burning his gaze into Junhong’s mind permanently, he walked off with a stomp in his step, head held high. He thudded the mic into Amber’s hands, not giving anyone around him a glance, especially not Junhong.

The crowd went wild. Anyone who had been laughing at Junhong initially had changed their mind by then and was now whistling, clapping, cheering his name.

But Junhong didn’t stay around to jubilate. He didn’t feel very victorious anyway, odd though it may have been.

He just needed to get away. He needed air.

He descended the stage before Amber had the time to get to him and start celebrating. He pushed past his friends who wanted to congratulate him. He shoved his way through the crowd, looking at the exit as if it was his lifeline.

Once outside, he took a deep breath—he felt as though he hadn’t breathed ever since he arrived to Akuma that evening. He crumbled to the ground, fists clenched and knuckles white, just like Yongguk’s had been back there.

He pressed a fist to his chest, wondering why it was aching.


	9. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you wanna go out?”
> 
> Minhyuk choked on his own spit. “ _What?_ ”
> 
> “I mean outside—it’s difficult to talk in here.”
> 
> There it was. That made much more sense. “Oh _that_ —yeah, of course, let’s go out.”

Everyone was surprised to see Junhong evading the topic of his and Yongguk’s showdown. His friends had tried to congratulate him for finally saying what needed to be said, but he’d snapped at them saying that he didn’t want to talk about it, and so they didn’t mention it anymore.

Things surrounding that event got especially odd when the next week Junhong turned down a movie night at Bobby and Jennie’s place, and then got even more odd when another week later he turned down going to Akuma. His excuse both times was that he had to go visit his family. Visiting his family wasn’t the odd thing – whoever knew Junhong well enough knew that he was quite attached – it was that he’d never visited his family in such short intervals before, despite his attachment.

Something was up, but he didn’t want to talk about it with anyone, not even Minhyuk.

 

So, that night at Akuma Minhyuk found himself a bit lonely in the absence of his wingman friend. It was especially boring considering everyone from his group of friends was either in a relationship, or in some kind of combination.

He didn’t mind being single at all, neither did his base his worth on having a significant other. It was just kind of a lame situation.

He was at least grateful for the fact that despite everyone being a part of a couple, no one was being.... Obnoxious. They weren’t in their own world, having their own conversations. The group was truly a group, with no one being left out of the jokes or the laughter, or the drunk discussions and philosophising.

Maybe Minhyuk was just bitter. Without Junhong to hype him up and help him with basic human interaction, he hardly had the guts to do anything about his crush.

Jinwoo performed again that night with Hoseok. Minhyuk descended the platform where his friends were sat and mingled with the crowd, in order to get closer to the stage and watch.

He was mesmerized, Jinwoo never failed to amaze him. He loved his and Hoseok’s ability to make a whole show complete with rap and dance, with it looking completely natural.

The two of them weren’t quite the known artists, in fact, perhaps the only time one ever got to listen to anything they wrote were these performances at Akuma. Minhyuk was grateful every time he got to hear them.

He cheered for Jinwoo as he always did, lingering a bit after the duo got off the stage.

Minhyuk sighed, beginning to push his way through the crowd, back to where his friends were.

The thing was that Minhyuk wasn’t really used to hearing his “stage name.” Especially in the chattering crowd, the yelled out “Rocky!” easily went past him, and he continued on his way. That was, until someone grabbed his arm.

Minhyuk spun around, eyes wide, fist already ready to punch in case it was an intrusion. But as soon as he reacted, the person let go of him, raised their arms and Minhyuk saw that it was Jinwoo.

“Hey, hey! It’s just me,” he said.

Minhyuk momentarily lowered his hand, feeling kinda dumb. “Yeah, just—panicked.”

“That’s okay.”

There was a second of them awkwardly standing opposite of each other, with Minhyuk waiting for Jinwoo to say why he’d stopped him, while Jinwoo had forgotten what he’d wanted to say due to the commotion.

Minhyuk cleared his throat. “So…”

“Oh, uh,” Jinwoo ruffled his hair nervously. “I was just gonna ask you—” he visibly hesitated. “—if everything was okay? That night when we talked your friend called for you, he seemed upset.”

Minhyuk blinked. “Yeah, yeah, we settled it. I mean, it was a whole fight, but it turned out fine in the end—”

Jinwoo’s eyes widened. “Wait, the fight with Jung San, that’s where you went!?”

“My friend’s boyfriend was there, we had to help,” Minhyuk said defensively.

“I—yeah, I get that but—Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt?”

For a moment Minhyuk just stared at Jinwoo. Was he… worried? “No… We had each other’s backs and we had help in the end. Some of the others took quite the beating though.”

“But you were okay?”

Minhyuk put his hands in his pockets, his shoulders tense. “Yeah—Yeah, I’m fine.”

Jinwoo seemed to relax then. He watched Minhyuk with an expression unreadable to the younger, and this unnerved him.

“Do you wanna go out?”

Minhyuk choked on his own spit.  “ _What?_ ”

“I mean outside—it’s difficult to talk in here.”

There it was. That made much more sense. “Oh _that_ —yeah, of course, let’s go out.”

Minhyuk wondered if Jinwoo was a smoker, maybe he needed company while he had a cigarette. Of course, it didn’t even cross Minhyuk’s mind that Jinwoo had suggested this because he wanted to spend time with him.

Because as it turned out Jinwoo wasn’t a smoker, and the two of them merely stayed outside, talking for hours while sitting on the doorstep of the club, facing the dark street. A single flickering streetlight was illuminating the space in front of them. It was cold enough outside for their breath to materialize in front of them, but they didn’t bother coming back inside, no, they didn’t want to abandon the conversation they were having.

It was something out of a dream. It was the kind of moment when you feel connected to a person on some cosmic level that you could never hope to put into words. And you know that it might not last, you might not ever speak to that person the same way again, but you’ll both hold that one four am conversation in your memories forever.

Minhyuk hoped him and Jinwoo would get to talk again the same way. But for now, fearing that it might not happen, they just kept talking, not wanting the night to end.


	10. VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junhong glanced over at the other part of the platform. Yongguk was there this time, and that was all Junhong wanted to see. He looked away.
> 
> Bobby had turned to follow Junhong’s gaze.
> 
> “I told you not to fall for him.”

“He _did_?”

“Yeah…”

It was good that Minhyuk and Junhong were talking again, normally. Junhong was still refusing to talk about Akuma, or Yongguk. But when Minhyuk suggested catching up and hinted at having something big to tell Junhong, he was very much up for it. They opened many snacks and made tea, sat on the couch with a pillow in each of their laps.

Just like the good old days.

And so Minhyuk told Junhong all about how Jinwoo had stopped him, how they went outside and talked for hours. How the entire time Jinwoo seemed hesitant, like he wanted to say something but wouldn’t allow himself to speak. How when it was time to go Jinwoo kept stalling, tried to get Minhyuk to stay because there was still _something_ he needed to say.

And how in the end he’d looked at the ground, shifting anxiously from foot to foot and asked, “Do you want to go out with me?”

“And what did you say!?” Junhong questioned now, leaning forward over his pillow, hands cupping his empty mug.

“Yes, of course!” Minhyuk exclaimed. Seeing Junhong’s own excitement made him relax and he allowed himself to smile and celebrate. He didn’t dare rejoice before, he didn’t even dare think it had really happened.

He looked down, swirled the teabag around the liquid that had cooled down by then. “It seemed unreal. Everything, from the moment we stepped out of the club, all of it was like a dream. Gosh—I’m scared to text him even, like if I do it’ll turn out that it never happened.”

Junhong understood this feeling very well. It reminded him greatly of his experience with Bang Yongguk and the early morning train. Not that Junhong was in contact with him, but if he were, he wouldn’t bring the event up in fears of it all turning out to have been just a dream.

Thinking of Yongguk made Junhong grimace. Lately, he’d been having trouble… not thinking of him, and every time he did it brought him great distress. He immediately suppressed the memory.

Minhyuk noticed something was wrong, of course he did. He even thought of the similarity of their experiences but didn’t dare mention Yongguk, not wanting to risk upsetting Junhong even more.

“I know what you mean,” was all Junhong said. He hesitated, glanced at Minhyuk and quickly averted his gaze. “Those moments are to be cherished and…. Shielded, in a way. Keep them for yourself. But there’s no reason not to move forward just because of those moments.”

Minhyuk leaned back on the couch, holding the pillow to his chest. “I suppose so.” He stared at the ceiling. He stared and let Junhong’s word bubble in his mind.

Then he sat up, brows furrowed and pouting with determination. “I’ll talk to him. I will. The next time we go to Akuma…” He trailed off.

Minhyuk laid his eyes on Junhong, who was picking at the pillow in his lap.

Minhyuk bit his lip. He had no idea what to say. Whether to apologize or ask him to talk or… Probably just leave it.

Just when Minhyuk thought he blew it, Junhong lifted his gaze and—smiled. “We can go to Akuma. I don’t wanna miss your flustered self trying to flirt.”

The relief that washed over Minhyuk in that moment was unexplainable. He grinned and threw his pillow at Junhong.

* * *

They decided not to separate. It was their first time in the club after a while, they didn’t think it was such a good idea to get lost immediately.

Everyone was delighted to see them. Junhong wasn’t expecting to get a hug from everyone from their little group.

Per usual the group got a bit split up, when some people decided to get closer to the stage and some decided to stay behind.

Junhong knew that Minhyuk wanted to go. In all honesty Junhong had no wish or strength to get up and mingle, but he forced himself to do so, for Minhyuk. He knew how much Minhyuk wanted to see Jinwoo.

They didn’t end up going to Akuma soon after their conversation about it. Even though Junhong had agreed to going, he still hadn’t been feeling well enough for it and Minhyuk was aware. So, he didn’t force Junhong until he was ready. Even so, this wouldn’t have been the first time in a while that they’d be seeing each other. See, while they were absent Minhyuk had gone on a date with Jinwoo. Then another. And a few others. They kept seeing each other, not always officially calling it a date, but they were very present in each other’s lives, so one couldn’t say that they were missing each other.

However, there was also the issue of the longue. The space shared by Junhong and his friends, and then the space, a bit farther, shared by Yongguk and his.

As it turned out, Yongguk hadn’t stopped coming to Akuma. As it turned out, he kept showing up, perhaps even more frequently than before, just to show how unbothered he was.

Now that he too was back, Junhong didn’t want to face him.

Going into the crowd with Minhyuk was the perfect getaway.

Except that…

When they stood up, when against all better judgment he looked behind himself, Junhong didn’t see Yongguk there. There were Namjoon and Yoongi, talking over the music. There was Ravi, with a handsome blonde by his side. Judging by Ravi’s arm around the man’s waist, Junhong could only assume this was _the_ Leo, his boyfriend.

Junhong threw a near panicked glance around in attempts of finding him, but he was only met with a sea of people. Of course there was no use looking for one man in such a crowd.

Junhong tried to push the thought aside. He needed to be there for Minhyuk.

 

“You made it!”

The hug startled them both. Junhong found Minhyuk’s panicked expression amusing, but he knew he couldn’t laugh, lest he be a horrible wingman.

Jinwoo didn’t greet Junhong in the same manner, merely an awkward wave, but Junhong didn’t mind.

“Do you want to grab a drink?”

It was a little unclear whether he meant them both, but he made no complaints against Junhong tagging along.

They took their drinks outside. As Jinwoo said, it was easier to talk there.

Junhong was relieved not to feel like the third wheel. Sitting on the curb, their conversation flowed as easy as a mountain creek.

It was the alley they had run through on their way to help Mino, before Junhong had challenged Yongguk.

His mind kept wandering off. He didn’t want to think about it, he didn’t want to think about Yongguk. He did everything in his power to focus on the conversation Minhyuk and Jinwoo were having, the conversation he had been a part of a few minutes ago, before he’d started zoning out.

Junhong hated it. It was as if his mere thoughts had summoned the man.

He burst through the door, startling all three of the ones sitting on the street.

They whipped around to look at the person causing all the commotion.

Yongguk stumbled, steadied himself with a hand on the wall. He didn’t seem to realize that he wasn’t alone. His hand was on his chest, he was panting, choking on his own breath.

Junhong had stood up. He didn’t know why. He didn’t even remember doing so. But after the door opened, and after Yongguk came through, he was on his feet.

Disoriented, Yongguk finally became aware of the presence. He looked up. It was as if he was staring into Junhong’s soul through the mess of his bangs that were falling into his eyes.

Junhong didn’t move. His fists were balled at his sides, and his own breathing had picked up.

Yongguk turned on his heel and started to stomp away.

Junhong was frozen. He had no intention of doing anything. What he needed to do now was to sit back down and pretend that nothing had ever happened.

But then he locked eyes with Minhyuk. And he knew that doing nothing wasn’t what he wanted.

“I promised to stay with you,” Junhong said.

“It’s okay,” Minhyuk responded. He threw a worried look in the direction where Yongguk had disappeared.

Junhong nodded. He broke into a sprint.

 

He found Yongguk not too far, crouching with his back pressed against the wall. His head was between his knees, his fingers laced into his hair. He sounded like each breath was painful to take.

Junhong had come to a halt a bit farther from him. Now, he approached slowly, carefully.

“Hyung..” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Once again the elder was startled to find that he wasn’t alone. When he first looked at Junhong there was anger in his eyes. Only a second later, there was nothing but despair.

“Go away,” he choked out.

“No.” Junhong got down on his knees.

Yongguk stumbled, ended up falling onto his butt. “Go away! I—fuck, can you at least let me—” He made a frustrated noise, turning his head away. His one arm was raised defensively, as if he was expecting Junhong to hurt him.

Junhong stayed in his spot, didn’t attempt to reach for Yongguk at all. “Hey, it’s alright,” he spoke gently. “Breathe. Sit down, put your head between your knees like before.”

For a moment, Yongguk was only frowning at Junhong. Then he slowly moved, sat back on the pavement and did as Junhong told him.

“Try to take deep breaths, hold a little when you breathe in.” Junhong harshly bit on his bottom lip. He wasn’t sure if it would work, it wasn’t the same for everyone. He was ready to try something else. He hadn’t even realized it, but Junhong had leaned in close, to listen to Yongguk’s breathing, to check if it was slowing down.

Eventually, however, Yongguk did start to calm down. And Junhong moved away, just in case.

He didn’t know when the right time to ask questions was. Although in all truthfulness, Yongguk probably didn’t want to be asked any questions at all.

And so, Junhong didn’t ask.

They sat together in silence for a while. But after that time passed, Yongguk simply up and left.

Junhong would be lying if he said that he didn’t look after Yongguk as he walked away. He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t disappointed, frustrated and regretful.

* * *

Junhong had returned to Minhyuk and Jinwoo feeling quite defeated. Hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped, he walked back towards where he’d left the two.

From a few meters away he saw Minhyuk and Jinwoo, holding hands, so close to each other that their foreheads were touching. Junhong had no idea what had happened while he was away, but he had no intention of interrupting it. So he turned on his heel and went around to find the main entrance.

 

“Where’s Minhyuk?” Bobby asked once Junhong was back at their spot.

“With Jinwoo,” Junhong said, sitting down.

“Oh.”

Jennie and Lisa seemed to have returned from their mingling as well. Jennie was now curled up in her girlfriend’s arms, head rested on Lisa’s shoulder.

Bobby wiggled out of his boyfriends hold and went to sit next to Junhong.

“Did something happen…?”

Junhong glanced over at the other part of the platform. Yongguk was there this time, and that was all Junhong wanted to see. He looked away.

Bobby had turned to follow Junhong’s gaze.

“I told you not to fall for him.”

Junhong had never welcomed this advice of Bobby’s and he didn’t like being reminded of it.

“Thank you,” he snapped. Too tired to properly tell Bobby off, he opted for sarcasm instead.

“Hey man, I didn’t mean—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. An arrival attracted everyone’s attention; Minhyuk, leading Jinwoo in by the hand. “Hi everyone,” he greeted, waving with his free hand.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Do you guys mind if—Jinwoo…”

Everyone was quick to say that they had no problem with him joining in, and Junhong was genuinely just glad to have the focus lifted off of himself.

Being the good friend that he was, Jinwoo politely asked if Hoseok could join as well, and everyone was alright with this too.

Their little group was large before, but now it was just big enough for Junhong to feel completely comfortable not participating in any interactions.

He was sitting on a couch that faced the rest of the club, the pit and the stage. This is where he kept his focus.

The only interaction he attempted to make was with Minhyuk, when he asked for some clarification.

“Well… When you left, Jinwoo kind of confessed,” Minhyuk said, trying to keep his cool. Junhong saw through him though, he saw the giddiness Minhyuk was trying to hide.

Minhyuk rubbed the back of his neck, giving a tiny shrug. “And… I don’t know, we’re holding hands and all that, I guess we’re kind of together?”

Junhong grinned and ruffled Minhyuk’s hair. “You dumbass. I’m happy for you.”

Minhyuk then went back to chatting with everyone else and being hugged by his probably-boyfriend. Junhong’s smile was gone soon.

Hoseok was a loud one. The way he talked attracted everyone’s attention and his jokes made everyone laugh. His presence prompted others to speak up as well, and Junhong couldn’t say he ever saw Dongwook and Taeil so chatty.

It was good having Hoseok around.

The group that had started as a patchy bunch of people from all over was finally coming together.

That’s why when Junhong saw an intruder walking over, he wasn’t happy in the slightest.

He would ruin everything, Junhong just knew it.

Yongguk walked over with a slight stumble in his step.

Junhong openly glared at him, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.

 His entrance attracted undivided attention.

He didn’t notice. He walked over to where Junhong was sitting, and took Minhyuk’s glass out of his hand.

Jinwoo stood up. Yongguk downed Minhyuk’s drink. He handed Jinwoo the empty glass.

“Hey—”

Yongguk wasn’t listening to him. Junhong saw Mino, Jiho, Bobby and Lisa readying themselves to get up if anything went wrong.

Yongguk butted in between Minhyuk and Junhong.

“We gotta talk,” he said.

Junhong looked at his friends, who were all on edge. He tried to non-verbally tell them that everything was okay, for now.

“Yeah, alright..”

Junhong himself was a bit unsure of this, but he didn’t get the feeling that Yongguk would do anything distasteful.

If anything, Yongguk didn’t seem to have any intention of moving to talk somewhere else, and in his current location he was surrounded by Junhong’s friends who were known for punching before thinking.

“I wanted to apologize.”

Now that, that was the last thing Junhong had expected.

“Apologize? You?”

Yongguk looked up at Junhong from behind his curls and furrowed brows. “I’m not as big of an asshole as you think. Now, will you hear me out?”

Junhong sighed and opened his arms as if in surrender. “I guess so.”

Yongguk nodded. He closed his eyes for a second. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I guess... you were right about me. And I couldn’t accept it so I kept being a dick to you.”

He went quiet. He didn’t seem to have anything else to say, or want to say it.

Junhong was painfully aware of the fact that all his friends, even though they were pretending not to, were keeping an eye on what was going on.

He wished he could pull Minhyuk or Lisa aside and ask them for advice; what the hell was he supposed to do in this situation? What was he supposed to say?

But then he laid his eyes on Yongguk, him slightly swaying in his spot, his curls falling into his eyes, his lips that were set in a permanent pout and his eyes, a little empty, but remorseful.

And Junhong knew he didn’t have it in him to hold a grudge against this man.

“... It’s alright, hyung.”

Junhong may have had more to say, but Yongguk only nodded a few times, as if he was eager to get out of there, now that he was forgiven.

Junhong couldn’t blame him.

He expected Yongguk to leave wordlessly like he had in the alleyway.

But he didn’t.

He did the complete opposite.

He simply let his head fall onto Junhong’s shoulder and stayed there.

With hindsight it probably wasn’t even a voluntary action, Yongguk was more than obviously drunk.

But it didn’t stop Junhong from being absolutely mortified, it didn’t stop his heart from beating way faster than healthy and it didn’t stop his cheeks from burning.

In a panic, he looked to Minhyuk, but his friend was just as astonished as him.

None of his friends could offer any help because they were too busy being either amazed or amused.

So Junhong was left there, with a sleeping boy rested on his shoulder.

And he had no idea what to do.

“Oi,” someone called from the neighbouring couch, one of those that didn’t belong to their cluster.

Ravi had his arm slung over the back of the couch. He had turned to look at Junhong.

“You should take him home.”

Junhong just nodded dumbly. Then he remembered. “Wait— I don’t have a car.”

Ravi sighed with a roll of his eyes. “I have to do everything myself,” he said while searching his pockets.

Before Junhong knew it, there were car keys flying his way, keys that Ravi had tossed after the slightest heads-up of, “Catch.”

Junhong caught them, and immediately checked if his flinching had stirred Yongguk.

He was relieved to see that Yongguk was still sleeping soundly.

“Not a scratch, you hear me.” Ravi warned. After a pause, he added, “Let him sleep in. He never sleeps.”

Junhong nodded. Ravi turned back around as if everything was settled. Junhong stared at the keys in his hands, trying to figure out what to do, trying to figure out the few issues that this spontaneous drive would give him.

He looked at his friend. “Minhyukkie…”

“What? Why are you using your I-need-something-from-you voice?”

Junhong tried to give the cutest pleading pout he could muster. “I don’t know where he lives. And even if I did I don’t want to mess with his stuff to find the keys and wouldn’t it be weird to just come into someone’s house unannounced—”

“And how am I supposed to help you?” Minhyuk questioned.

Junhong just pouted at him pleadingly until Minhyuk realized.

“But—if you bring him to our dorm where will I go!?”

The answer was, of course, sitting next to Minhyuk with his arms around Minhyuk’s waist.

“You could sleep over at my place,” Jinwoo offered sheepishly.

Minhyuk blinked. Junhong saw it, he saw him blushing, but Minhyuk played it off. He rolled his eyes, leaning back against Jinwoo.

“Gosh you’re such a nuisance… I can’t believe this…”

“Oh yes, what a horrible faith. I’d hate to spend the night at my boyfriend’s place,” Bobby mocked, leaning over to poke Minhyuk’s arm.

He was pulled back by Mino, who only asked, “Would you?”

Bobby near fell apart then and there.

There’s always a bigger fish in the sea.

Junhong was totally fine not staying amidst the chaos. He didn’t want to risk waking Yongguk up anyway.

When it was time to go, Ravi was willing to offer help with carrying Yongguk, only to be surprised by how easy it was for Junhong to pick him up.

He only said a little “damn,” and decided to leave it all to Junhong.

And so Ravi was proven wrong about having to do everything himself.

 

The car was a red Subaru BRZ. Junhong was a bit nervous about driving it, simply because it belonged to the likes of Ravi, and because he had to drive in such a way that wouldn’t wake up or hurt Yongguk. But he was quite knocked out at that point and Junhong knew he was probably overreacting, however he couldn’t help but worry.

Junhong figured that the only right way to go about this was to put Yongguk into his bed, and for Junhong to take Minhyuk’s. It took a bit of effort, Junhong had never had to take someone’s shoes off and tuck them in before, but he managed.

Laying there in the darkness, listening to Yongguk’s soft breaths made Junhong grasp the fact that he had Bang Yongguk in his bed.

Well, not like _that_ , but he was there, he was sleeping in Junhong’s room, not that far from him.

It was a thought that nearly didn’t allow him to fall asleep.

But eventually the exhaustion got to him.

* * *

Two consecutive _pings_ stirred Junhong awake. As he came to, as his eyes fluttered open and he laid his eyes on Yongguk, Junhong suddenly panicked and grabbed his phone to put it on silent.

He remembered Ravi telling him that Yongguk never sleeps, he remembered promising to let him rest.

Fortunately, the _pings_ didn’t seem to have reached him at all.

Junhong quietly sighed in relief.

The messages were from Minhyuk.

_‘I don’t know when I’ll be getting home’_

_‘But I’m safe, so don’t worry’_

Junhong was at least glad to hear that.

He checked the time. It was already noon.

Weekends were when him and Minhyuk did their cleaning, but with Yongguk there Junhong knew he couldn’t do his part. He opted for finishing some school work instead. Sitting at his desk, he only hoped that his typing wouldn’t be too disruptive.

Eventually, Yongguk started to stir.

Junhong’s head snapped up when he heard him let out a tiny sleepy noise, right before his eyes opened.

Yongguk frowned. “What the fuck,” he muttered, disoriented.

Junhong pushed his laptop away, turned his chair to face the elder.

“Hey, um… You fell asleep in the club so Ravi gave me his car to take you home but—I don’t know where you live and I felt weird entering your home so…”

Yongguk closed his eyes, a little bit overwhelmed with Junhong’s rambling.

Tiredly, Yongguk rubbed his face. “Why didn’t—he take me home?”

Junhong shrugged. “He was with his boyfriend? And… I don’t know…”

Yongguk slowly sat up. “He gave you his car, you say?”

Junhong nodded. Because Yongguk wasn’t looking, Junhong added a “yeah.”

Yongguk sighed. “I know what he was doing.” He glanced up, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

“It’s okay,” Junhong was quick to reassure.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. “I should go,” Yongguk spoke.

“You don’t have to—” Junhong couldn’t let him. He felt like something was left unsaid, something from last night and something that had been bothering him ever since their battle.

“Really, I gotta go,” Yongguk said, beginning to shuffle off the bed.

“Wait.”

Yongguk stopped in his tracks. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

Yongguk tilted his head, brows furrowed quizzically.

“For being so harsh,” Junhong added.

“What are you talking about?” Yongguk muttered, ruffling his hair in distress.

“Well—our battle—”

Yongguk rolled his eyes, leaning back against the wall. He started twisting a curl around his finger. “It was a fucking battle, kid. You’re _supposed_ to do that.”

Junhong wanted to explain himself, why he felt the need to apologize, but he abruptly changed his mind. “So… You didn’t learn a lesson. You’re still calling me _kid_.”

Their eyes met. For a second, Yongguk stopped twisting his curl.

And then he smiled. “I didn’t realize you were teaching me a lesson.”

“In that case I did a very poor job.”

The huff that escaped Yongguk’s lips was a ghost of a laugh.

Junhong started playing with the pendant on the chain around his neck. Yongguk kept playing with his hair as well.

There were still things he wanted to clear up. He cleared his throat. “About last night…”

Yongguk raised his eyebrows.

“What… happened in the alley?”

“Nothing,” Yongguk said quickly. Just with a little glance, Junhong saw Yongguk retracting, his shoulders raising as he grew tense. “I just made myself upset.”

“I’m sorry.”

Yongguk huffed. “Why are you sorry this time? It’s not your fault.”

Pausing to think about it, Junhong realized that he didn’t have a good answer. “I guess—just that it happened. I don’t know.”

They fell silent again. Junhong kept playing with his pendant. Yongguk kept playing with his hair.

“But what you said has been on my mind.”

Junhong couldn’t say he was surprised to hear this. It would make sense, considering his apology from last night.

Yongguk begun to tug on his curl. “I guess… I upset myself by thinking about it too much.”

“So you lied,” Junhong muttered.

“Huh?”

“It _was_ my fault.”

There was a tiny ‘thud’ as Yongguk let his head fall back against the wall. Just like that night on the train. “No… I told you already, you were right. I had to reflect on that.”

Junhong lifted one foot onto the chair and hugged his leg. “Still. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I was an idiot. It’s not your fault.”

“ _Still_. I was… angry, and I wanted to give you a piece of my mind. It was the heat of the moment kind of thing… But I think what I really wanted, past all the anger, was to—” he took a deep breath.

He had no idea if Yongguk was listening, if he found Junhong’s words meaningful or stupid.

So he stole another glance at him. And he saw that Yongguk was listening, not taking his eyes off of Junhong.

He quickly averted his gaze. “—was to get closer to you. I wanted to help.” Junhong rested his chin on top of his knee. “But I ended up doing the opposite.”

Yongguk huffed. Just like before, it sounded a little bit like a laugh. And when he glanced at Yongguk, sure enough, he was smiling.

“You’re a good kid… Zelo.”

There was a feeling in his chest again, but this time not heavy. It was the opposite, it was very light, and gentle. With a smile, “My name’s Junhong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back- kind of.


End file.
